BETTER TOOLS FOR TRANSFERING BLUE PRESS N PEEL?? Dr. Sketch-n-Etch: I use an old beige cube (HP Laser Jet 2100M) to print, and a pretty bog-standard electric iron to make the transfer. Here's my ritual: First, I print the layout on a piece of copier paper. Then I cut out a piece of PnP Blue slightly larger than required and tape it along the top edge over that printed image, and feed it manually back through the printer. Then I trim the printout and make sure it has no dust, cat hair, or other residue on it. Then, I cut out the PCB material on an old paper cutter I keep just for that purpose. I sand the edges smooth, give the copper a light polishing with fine steel wool, and clean it with alcohol on a folded paper towel. Next, I plug in the iron (on a medium-low setting), and set up the ironing board. I put an old wooden cutting block on the ironing board, wrap an old tea towel around it, and put the PCB on that. I cover the PCB and PnP Blue with a bit of the paper cut from the sheet I printed on. When I'm finally ready to iron, I put the hot iron over the entire board and apply firm, stationary pressure for about one minute. Then, applying gentle pressure (not enough to smear the transfer), I hold the covering paper down with my fingers and move the iron slowly in circles to get uniform toner transfer, in both directions (CW and CCW). I may also move the iron in straight lines over the edges of the board, where the transfer seems to be the most problematic. I do all this for about two minutes. Then, I pick up the PCB with a spatula and put it under running water to cool it off, dry it with a towel, and slowly peel off the PnP Blue backing. Usually, all I have are some minor imperfections (the odd ragged pad, a long trace with little missing chunks along one edge, large areas with little missing chunks, etc.). These I fix with a very fine tipped Sharpie pen. Don't rub the pen too hard on the transfer, or it will come off. Make sure that the Sharpie leaves a solid inking on the flaw. For long traces with ragged edges, use a ruler. Sometimes, for whatever reason, the transfer comes out poorly in one area, with some missing (or nearly missing) pads and traces. If it looks like it will be too much to fix with the Sharpie, I just wipe it all off with acetone on a paper towel and start again. Luckily, this doesn't happen very often. Once I'm happy with the transfer, I etch. For this, I put a pyrex baking dish in the laundry room basin, put one rubber glove on my right hand, and pour the contents of the bottle in which I keep my etching solution into the dish. This is a bright green solution which consists of water, hydrochloric acid, and quite a lot of copper chloride (from all the boards I've etched). I have never changed this solution. Every three or four etchings, I add a quarter cup of acid to it. Every etching, I pour a tablespoon of concentrated hydrogen peroxide into it. Then, holding the PCB transfer-side up with my gloved right hand, I swish it around in the solution until it is completely etched. The solution is not very aggressive, so this takes typically three or four minutes. Rapid side-to-side movement of the PCB ensures good mass transfer and a rapid etch. When etching is done, I rinse in tap water, put the solution back in the bottle with a small funnel (being careful to leave the bottle cap loose to avoid it blowing up from oxygen gas evolved from the peroxide), and clean up the sink. Then I drill (#68 for component holes, #60 for 0.1" MTA headers, 1/16" for the 0.156" MTA power header, and 1/8" for the mounting holes), with the transfer stuff still on the board to help guide the drill bit and protect the copper. When the drilling is all done, I swipe the back of the board hard over the sharp edge of my drill press platform to knock off all the fibreglass crumbs, and swipe it gently on the front side to knock off all the little copper crumbs (only necessary if the drill bit is a bit dull). Then I quickly run the #68 drill bit back through all the holes (from the back this time) to dress them and further remove the fibreglass debris. Then I wipe of the transfer with acetone on a paper towel, polish the board with fine steel wool, wash with alcohol, and tin with Liquid Tin. I now have a nice and shiny, silver printed circuit which is a pleasure to solder on. This whole process takes about an hour for an average board.