CuCl etching

[xray]

In early Jan there was a discussion here about using CuCl to etch PC
boards. Sorry, I lost the original thread.

Someone mentioned a web page about this. I think that was my page. My
site was in limbo at the time. I have finally gotten around to putting
up some pages in a new location.

Here's the page on CuCl etching...
http://www.xertech.net/Tech/CuCl_ech.html

This information is all copied from a book of the 1980's. I did contact
the author before posting. He goes into great detail on the process of
keeping the chemistry right.

All the pictures on this page are from the book. When I did my version,
I found some porous plastic tubing in an aquarium store. I ran a few
rows horizontally across the bottom of the tank as a bubbler. I adapted
an aquarium heater in a large test tube. The heater was adjusted to a
level that could cook fish, but all the parts were there, so the
conversion was pretty easy.

 

[martin griffith]

On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 13:48:46 -0500, in sci.electronics.design Mark
Jones <abuse@127.0.0.1> wrote:

A much safer alternative is ammonium tri-iodide. Take a pitri dish, add a few
(read: one or two) iodine crystals, add just enough ammonia to cover. Ammonia in
this case is household ammonia - the pure stuff would make the result far too
unstable - breathing on it would set it off. Swirl gently, and after a few
minutes the iodine crystals will turn purple. When wet, it is harmless. But once
they dry, they become explosive. Apparently the molecules line up in very long
chains when drying and are easily broken by physical force, creating a miniature
atomic chain-reaction. The product of explosion is simple dis-assembly of the
structure - it leaves an ammonia-and-iodine-stain on whatever unlucky thing
touched it.

Ah.... those were the days, when schools really taught chemistry.


martin


"Facts are stupid things.." -- Reagan, '88

 

[John Woodgate]

I read in sci.electronics.design that Jim Thompson
<thegreatone@example.com> wrote (in <6f9v01p5a0ggbrouk56q31urco4i5747ui@
4ax.com&gt about 'Was: CuCl etching', on Sun, 13 Feb 2005:

I prefer fulminate of mercury myself (remember the movie "Mister
Roberts" ;-)

That is not too surprising since it's a compound, mercuric isocyanate,
formed from mercury and *ethyl alcohol*, with a little help from nitric
acid.
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk