I've had the unique opportunity to work as an etcher for a circuit board manufacturer. It's something I've never done before now, even though electronics interest me. What I never realized before now is the amount of work that goes into producing circuit boards, especially the multi layered ones. Also, what was never apparent are the toxic and corrosive chemicals used in the process. Anyway, I think anybody who has an interest in the field of electronics should get their feet wet and give it a try.
Whatever you do, don't take it to a school in Texas. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! (Fifty years ago, my brother used to make radios by soldering components to nails in a board. Later on, he made his own printed circuits from a kit, so I know a little bit about the procedure. Unfortunately, my own knowledge of electronics ends at the on/off switch.)
If you just started, you have yet even to scratch the surface. Analog ICs like operational amplifiers will not work unless care is taken to minimize track lengths connected to inputs, by means of placing feedback resistors as close as possible to those IC pins. Doing otherwise will likely result in you building an oscillator where an amplifier was needed. Good luck with that.
I have made a few circuit boards in my time. The video you linked is one method but most people go with the "toner transfer" method. This involves printing the circuit pattern on your laser printer and then transferring it onto the copper clad board with a hot clothes iron. The hard part is getting the paper off without pulling the toner pattern off the copper. But there is a trick that makes it easy. Apply a section of adhesive backed vinyl shelf paper (cheap at the dollar store, get white or clear vinyl) to to the area of the paper you are printing on. Print on the vinyl. Then iron the printed vinyl pattern onto the board. Let it completely cool and gently peel off the vinyl. The results can be very good if your ironing technique is good. Apply pressure and the proper heat (experiment to learn the right heat). And you must clean all the contaminants off the copper before transfer and etch. Never touch your copper with you bare hands because the oils can cause problems. Note that not all laser printers have toner that will work (I know Brother laser printers don't work), but most cheap laser printers will. Another thing I do is I etch the board in a ziplock storage bag (not a sandwich bag which will leak). This way there is little chance of spillage of the etching liquid. Just jiggle it back and forth to keep the etchant moving. Then afterward you can recover the liquid by just holding the corner over the etchant bottle and snipping the corner with scissors. The liquid will almost all drain out into the bottle. Do it over a container to avoid accidents. Then just wash up the bag and dispose of it. One of the biggest problems with home circuit board construction is cutting the copper clad board. I like to use thinner board material that can be cut with a pair of strong scissors. You can get boards that are so thin they are quite flexible. I think the thinnest stuff is called pyralux and is available at reasonable prices online. You will probably also usually need to drill some holes as vias or for through-hole parts. I bought a jeweler's drill press new for about $70 online. Some people use dremel tools but I think the drill press is much better. IMO you should try and use surface mount parts as much as possible since it lower the number of holes to be drilled. Note that copper is toxic so be careful with the waste from the drilling. Drill outside if possible. Also the fiber glass dust off the boards is very bad esp if breathed in or swallowed even in very small amounts. I always use latex gloves and a filter mask. And protective eyewear! When laying out the circuit board in Eagle Cad or similar program, remember that ground planes are your friend. They help keep the electric fields controlled so they don't interfere with nearby circuits. But for many low speed circuits a single sided board is adequate. Use wire where you need to. These home etching methods are mostly used for one-off boards. If you need a very nice board or multiple copies with solder resist, printed info, plated vias and even custom shapes, there are some fairly cheap etch houses online that do excellent work. Be aware that some are in China and so shipping times may be long. Perhaps as much as a month. But many US etch houses can ship very quickly. You can even get the boards in much less than a week, even overnight if you have deep pockets. I have tried several US companies and they have all done excellent work. Just follow their rules for how they want your files. Usually they will give you 3 copies of the board. Price varies. Its a fun hobby. After a few tries a board can be etched from printed pattern to board in as little as 1/2 hour. It may take some experimentation to get the best results.
Thank you for your post. There are so many chemicals in the manufacturing process that I am a bit concerned about the potential risks. We wear PPE, yet it doesn't seem to be enough. I'm not sure that I will stay with it, mainly because of the chemicals. There's like a yellow glaze on the walls of the plant, so I know stuff is in the air around me. It does appear to be a very profitable enterprise.
Be sure that your employer has trained you in material safety. And there should be MSDS documents in the work area that describe all the chemicals you work with and what the possible dangers are. You should take some time and get familiar with those documents. Your place of work most likely meets all government safety requirements. What you have to decide is if it meets your safety requirements. Good luck with the etching job. And I hope that if you have interests in hobby electronics that you make your own circuit boards someday. Be aware that these are not the only way to make circuits. A couple more are the dead bug method and the Manhattan style. They don't look as neat and tidy but they have a loyal following. Manhattan construction Dead bug
I think it is fascinating and wish I could see the final product once all components are in place. The various patterns are interesting, too.
This guy documents his projects and likes to show them at all stages of construction. They are works of art. https://aa7ee.wordpress.com/ This video shows some examples of construction techniques commonly used by HAM Radio enthusiasts. W2AEW also has lots of electronics tutorials and videos where he repairs equipment. All very interesting stuff at least to me. Here is his youtube link, tons of cool stuff there. https://www.youtube.com/user/w2aew Another good source of info on electronics is Shayan Shahramian on his blog The Signal Path: http://thesignalpath.com/blogs/ He gets into some really high frequency circuits and advanced electronics. He does lots of teardown videos where he takes state of the art electronics, takes it apart and explains what stuff is and how it works. His videos on youtube are excellent. https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSignalPathBlog Mike at mikeselectricstuff is interesting too. He builds installation electronics and likes to share his work. I would rather watch this stuff than regular entertainment TV and Movies. https://www.youtube.com/user/mikeselectricstuff And people share all kinds of projects on hackaday: http://hackaday.com/ And to show you just how far you can take stuff, Jeri Ellsworth is very inspirational. She is self taught and does amazing stuff. https://www.youtube.com/user/jeriellsworth In this video she makes her own NMOS transistor. Truly incredible stuff. She taught herself to program FPGAs and used to build race cars. Her life story is very interesting too.
