laser idea

[stuee]

1st , im making my own pcb now after getting a laminator for the toner transfer to the copper, im having problems with the toner not sticking very well, it soaks till its all etched but 1/2wy through the soak some of the finer lines just come off and float around? any idea why?

2nd is it possible to make a laser to make the holes in the pcb instead of drilling, going through too many drill peices..
pref converting a small pen laser.

Thanks

 

[ante1]

stuee,

It

 

[MP1]

A laser pen will not cut. This is done with a different frequency of laser and uses a much higher power supply.
I do not mean to discourage you. Many on this site are interested if you would start such a project. As ante has stated, proceed with caution. It is very dangerous.

MP

 

[stuee]

dont know too much about lasers or much else really so will just leave it i think and go for stronger drill bits
Thanks
at least i know now

 

[Yevgenip]

I have an article in Scientific American about a one-atom laser. This may not be of much help to you, but it is interesting to read. ;D

Interested?

 

[Codyhtml]

yepp ;D

 

[Alun]

They use an infre red laser to cut PCBs and other things with, at work we have a high power laser for cutting kevlar tubes.

The best place to get you hands on a high powered laser is a medical supply aution.

You do need to know what you're doing though a laser this powerfull will blind you in an instant and it might even cook your brain too.

Be carefull of infra-red lasers just  because you can't see the beam it doesn't mean it won't damage your eyes because you can't se it you won't blink either not that this makes much difference anyway as high powered lasers can destroy your retina before you can blink anyway.

My advice to you is use a mid infrared laser, because ordinary perspex safety glasses are completely opaque to mid infrared radiation.

 

[MP1]

There are various infrared lasers on the market and most will not produce what you are looking for here. CO2 or YAG lasers are used for cutting and they usually employ the use of gases to aid in the cutting of most materials.
This is why laser cutting equipment is so expensive. You will not build a laser cutting machine with a cheap infrared laser. Yag uses an infrared frequency of 1.06 microns ("near infrared") and CO2 uses a frequency of 10.6 microns ("far infrared"). "Near infrared" light is closest in wavelength to visible light and "far infrared" is closer to the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The longer, far infrared wavelengths are about the size of a pin head and the shorter, near infrared ones are the size of cells, or are microscopic. Far infrared is close to the microwave frequency and is a thermal frequency. To pull this off, you will need a high wattage supply of power. Do not try to build a cutting laser with one of the cheap IR lasers. It will only frustrate you and possibly take away your eye sight in the process.

MP

 

[Kevin Weddle]

I tuned lasers at my last job. A laser of 20Watts will burn holes in wood etc. The wavelength of radiation is 20K nanometers. The unit is fairly large with a complex waveform applied to the gas tube. So I would say you are out of luck with the laser idea.

 

[Dido]

The wavelength of radiation is 20K nanometers.

What do you mean with that 20K nanometers?

 

[Alun]

I think he means:
10-9 * 20*103 = 20*10-6 or 20 micrometers.

 

[audioguru2]

Its frequency is near the high end of ultraviolet waves and getting pretty close to X-rays.

 

[Alun]

No 20um is far infrared, it's frequency is 15THz and it's nearer to the microwave band than the optical band.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared

 

[audioguru2]

Sorry, I looked at 20nm instead of 20um:

View attachment 36751