Coper, anyone ?

[buze]

My current large-format pet project involves electronics, microcontrolers, sensors and various other gizmos. So i get to make my one pcb (printed circuit board).
Lets look at the requirements:
+ Epoxy + copper layer
+ Light sensitivive emulsion
+ Circuit layout laid over it
+ Expose to UV for some time...
+ Develop in some wierdo chemical
+ Wash, hang out to dry (almost)

Sound familiar ? Yes it does.

So my current pet project got sidetracked while I study how I could contact print a photograph on a copper plate. Anyone tried that before ? what kind of density/tones can I expect ? what sort of exposure time ?
What about protecting against corrosion ? Any laquer/varnish idea ?

Fun !

 

[steven_e007]

There is a book called "The Creative Darekroom Handbook" by Chris Wainwright, ISBN 0-304-34333-1. Here he experiments with all sorts of techniques including printing on pcb boards.

He doesn't say much (not worth buying the book for it!) but contact prints some lith positives onto copper PCB boards and developes in ferric chloride.
His pictures were therefore two tone only, etched or not etched...

I personally didn't find them too inspirational and never attempted it myself.
The copper was a nice colour, but the underlying fibreglass board was not, being an insipid green. The two colours didn't complement each other at all...

Streve

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Allen Friday here has done this:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[walter23]

This just goes to show that an original idea is completely impossible. I was thinking about doing this just a week or two ago, and I was thinking "haha, I can do something neat and original."

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

This just goes to show that an original idea is completely impossible. I was thinking about doing this just a week or two ago, and I was thinking "haha, I can do something neat and original."

You know, when I had my first film camera, I was thinking myself all smart because I kept saying to people that I was doing "analog photography." One day, out of self-importance, I googled the word, and of course discovered APUG. I was humbled but very pleased...

 

[Photo Engineer]

Cuprous oxide is light sensitive and can be developed in an acid developer to form a metalling copper image. It has a speed and sensitivity similar to Kodabromide and a similar tone scale.

The image is unstable and would have to be toned somehow.

PE

 

[Brian Miller]

Instead of printing a "normal" image on the board, why not etch it? There's a book on high-contrast photography. Look at some of those pictures and transfer the ideas onto an etched copper board.

BTW, Fiberglas isn't an insipid green. It is a very beautiful insulator.