How To Make A Printed Circuit Board - Toner Transfer Method

The paper I use is called "presentation paper". It's glossy, similar to the paper used in magazines, but a bit thicker. In fact you can use magazine paper instead and get it for free.
I bought a pack of the paper back when I was making my own circuit boards regularly, so I'm not sure if it's still available today. I tried several types of paper at the time and that one gave the best results.
I use muriatic acid and hydrogen peroxide, but there is a "proper" etchant (Ferric Chloride) you can get to use instead.
My usual procedure was to etch and clean the board, then tin the copper traces completely and then drill the holes for the parts.
The video thumbnail image is an example of a more complex board I made using this process.

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[IBuildIt]

The paper I use is called "presentation paper". It's glossy, similar to the paper used in magazines, but a bit thicker. In fact you can use magazine paper instead and get it for free.
I bought a pack of the paper back when I was making my own circuit boards regularly, so I'm not sure if it's still available today. I tried several types of paper at the time and that one gave the best results.
I use muriatic acid and hydrogen peroxide, but there is a "proper" etchant (Ferric Chloride) you can get to use instead.
My usual procedure was to etch and clean the board, then tin the copper traces completely and then drill the holes for the parts.

[GregsGarage]

Custom touches like this make these types of builds 100% cooler.

[dharminderkalsi]

With so much content on YouTube, it’s hard to choose a favorite YouTuber - but for me it’s super easy: John Heisz! So much to learn from each video. Love it!

[freezEware]

When I finished this video it felt like I had watched 20 minutes worth of content but I was really surprised to see it was only 6 minutes long. No time was wasted, and it contained a lot of information... thanks. I see how some other youtubers would have wasted the extra 15 minutes blabbing nonsense. You did well, Sir.

[GVNZ]

recently i got back at this too, and i use the exact same method. I can confirm absolutely that after ten years the peroxide has gone dull. Same board, same acid, with old peroxide took like half an hour, with the fresh one took MAYBE two minutes.

[paulhirst]

Very nice and great timing as I can do this instead of messing around with a proto board. I had forgotten how easy it is to do. I will make one for the controls on the solder fume extractor that I made. My eyesight is getting poor as I get older so I end up inhaling a lot of the fumes while bending over to get see what I am doing. Thank you for this John.

[amazonicscircuitri]

This method help a lot of electronic students, thanks man for sharing

[NickP]

Very cool vid. In the past, I’ve made my own PCBs for fuzz face guitar pedals. I like using a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to remove the paper. The fuzz circuit is so simple that at first for prototyping, I just used a black sharpie. There’s definitely a large sense of satisfaction in a final piece when you’ve really built it from scratch. Point to point wiring is obviously preferred if possible, and if you’re only building one of whatever you’re building. Thanks for the video! Great stuff!

[sbwhddv]

Fascinating and useful! THANK YOU John!

[telebus]

When I did this for a project in college, I didn't have an iron, so I used my cast iron skillet. I wouldn't recommend that method. One thing John didn't mention is that copper clad board comes in different weights, which refer to the amount of copper used to cover one square foot, typically 1/2oz-2oz, which relates directly to the sheet resistance of your traces. When ordering for a project, make sure that you get the right weight for your current handling needs (more current= higher weight copper clad OR thicker traces).

[letsfightdeepstate]

This method i used many times...if not get perfect after heating it, just wash the board and print another copy and try again...very good method.

[davoc]

so awesome when there is no bullshit intro and dumb jokes. just content. well done sir

[eabr]

Very cool. I made some etched circuit boards in my apprenticeship, but have forgotten how to. It was a similar method, but with the use of an etching pen.

[danhorton]

Great work! I’ve made several boards from Mr. Carlson’s Lab which had very fine traces. I gave up on the clothes iron pretty quickly as it was just painful to get a good transfer. I picked up some special paper made for this that completely falls away when put into water, so no scrubbing to get it off and I also got a large heavy duty laminator to get nice even pressure and heat on the transfer. I haven’t had a failed transfer since. Thanks for sharing your method, I had no idea on the use of your acid and hydrogen peroxide, I’ve always used Ferric Chloride, but this info will be put to use in the future. Also, if I run out of liquid tin I’ll use lacquer as well, I have a few gallons laying around.

[draztiqmeshaz]

I didn't know that about Flux, lacquer thinner, and lacquer. Very much appreciated!

[patthesoundguy]

That's brilliant! I didn't realize that's what the chemicals were. Glad I finally got a laser printer last year 😎

[LeJimster]

I used to make and build circuit boards for a Saturday job as a kid. Really enjoyed the process. Only difference is we would print onto a transparent sheet, tape it to the board and expose it in a light box to transfer the circuit.

[DolezalPetr]

Hi, I followed your video and I hope it works out good, looks good so far, I am waiting for it to cool down right now before I put it into water

[KravchenkoAudioPerth]

As mentioned Hydrogen peroxide goes dead rather rapidly. I made quite a few boards starting in the 80's from directly drawing them with good markers to the method you used and using thicker trade magazine paper. I found the heaver trade magazine paper the same as what you are using. But I switched to a laminator for heat and pressure. Made quite a difference. Walmart was like $30 from 3M. Nice to see you getting back into having some fun John. I remember you on Diyaudio. I think we both died out at the same time there.

[EF-]

I would consider a NTC thermistor inrush current limiter, especially with a toroidal transformer. For smaller supplies it's not needed but this project is getting up there.