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Toner Transfer and Muriatic Acid Etchant: Making PCBs at LVL1

Originally posted on my personal blog, Meat and Networking.

LVL1 is great.  A place for creative and motivated people to get together and goad each-other into doing more creative things.  It's also a great gathering place for tools, as well as knowledge.  A few months ago, the spoiled electrical engineer that I am, I never would have considered making my own PCBs.  Any project worth taking off the breadboard was worth sending to China to get made "right."

Of course, there isn't always time and money to send something to China.  Today's installment is the Sumo-bot board I'm trying to put together for the Hive13 sumobot competition.  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like poor Snoopy bot will make it to the ring, but the board making process itself is worth talking about.

Laying out a PCB using software like Eagle is beyond the scope of this post.  If you can follow the appropriate Sparkfun Tutorial, it's pretty easy to pick up.  Something to note:  for single sided home-made PCBs, put all traces and surface mount components on the BOTTOM layer.  Put any necessary jumpers on the top layer.  When you're ready to print, just turn off all the layers you don't want turned into copper.

So, to make a PCB, you'll need a few things:

  • Cheap Photo Paper
  • A Laser Printer
  • Copper Clad FR4
  • A laminator with a straight feed path
  • OR a clothes iron
  • A sink
  • Plastic, non-reactive bowls or tupperware tubs
  • Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Acetone
  • Nitrile or Latex Gloves
  • Baking Soda
  • Drill Press
  • OR Dremel + Dremel Drill press
  • Really tiny drill bits


So, let's get started.  Step 1:

Print your circuit board on the photopaper, shiny side up.

Printed board lined up with PCB

Cut out the design and line it up with your copper-clad board.  Once you have an idea for how much PCB you'll need, score the board on both sides with a utility knife, and break off the proper amount.  (The proper amount is just slightly larger than your PCBs).

Step 2:

Rough up your PCB under running water.

Cleaning and Roughing up the FR4


Dry the PCB thoroughly.

Step 3:


Feeding into the Laminator



If you're using an iron here, the same rules apply.   Don't use enough heat to singe the paper, but not much less than that.  Apply smooth, even pressure, and go over the PCB several times.  Be very careful and consistent during this step, or you'll get unreliable results.

Step 4:

Rinse the paper off the PCB.

Rinse paper off


Be very careful, and make sure there isn't a thin layer of paper or glossy film still attached.  This will not etch properly, and will cause bridges.


Toner Transfer


If your board doesn't look right here, use acetone and wash the toner off.  Then, repeat these steps from the beginning.  Eventually you'll end up with a board that can be etched.

Step 5:

Mix your chemicals.






Step 6:




Etch nearly done


When you're done with the etchant, pour it into a non-reactive container, and keep it until there's a local chemical disposal day.  Supposedly, you can revive the etchant with some additional hydrogen peroxide, but I haven't successfully done so yet.



Honestly, I just throw the baking soda away, and rinse out the container, but this definitely isn't the best way to handle things.  Run the water for a long time, the etchant can corrode your pipes.

Step 7:

Remove the toner.


You'll notice some bridges in this picture. At this point, you'll want to go through with a multimeter, and make sure any suspect portions of the board check out electrically.  You can fix any bridges with a set of dental picks, or an xacto knife.


Step 8:



I'm using a Dremel drill press and some drill bits from Electronics Goldmine.  


Step 9:


Begin your sumobot exhibition matches as soon as possible.

14 thoughts on “Toner Transfer and Muriatic Acid Etchant: Making PCBs at LVL1

  1. Randy

    Um... Is it just me, or do most of the image links not work / go to the wrong image?

    Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the article, I'd just like to take a closer look at a few photos.


  2. James


    Nope, you are not the only one. Every picture I clicked on went to some unrelated picture.

    Looks like a cool process, but like you I would like a closer look.

    - James

  3. Christopher

    The images are linked from an external URL the author references. We'll have it sorted out shortly. Thanks for bringing it to our attention guys!

  4. Eric

    In the old world we used to do this with a laser printer and plastic transparency stock. That gave up the toner very nicely.

  5. Brad

    @Randy and @James,

    I have fixed the image links, let me know if they still don't work!


    I haven't yet had a need to refine my double-sided process. Any PCB I've made has either been too simple to need a double-sided board, or too complicated to justify spending X hours soldering vias. My biggest problem right now is drilling! The Dremel drill press at LVL1 has a tendency to destroy anything smaller than about a #54.

    This method does pretty well, here's a comparison of some different runs:

    Left hand side are transfers using photo paper. Upper right is magazine stock, lower right is glossy card stock. Again, I'm just using the cheapest photo paper I can find. The more expensive stuff leaves residue on PCB after the toner transfer, mucking up the etch.

    For anyone that's interested, you can find the Eagle .brd files for this test here:

  6. Pingback: Toner Transfer and Muriatic Acid Etchant: Making PCBs at LVL1 - machine quotidienne

  7. Reade

    Don't make the same mistake I did.
    Do not use a Brother brand printer.
    Their toner formula will not transfer reliably no matter how much heat or pressure is applied.

  8. Pingback: Toner Transfer and Muriatic Acid Etchant: Making PCBs at LVL1 | House of Mods

  9. John Johnson

    I suggest that you may want to drill before etching. Small lands could get ripped off by the drill - even a small one - because of reduced adhesion to the base material.
    jsquared (Canada)

  10. phantom metalsmith

    Folks, most of these acidified H2O2 (copper chloride really) solutions do NOT need to be thrown out, they can be revived by simply bubbling O2/air through them (not hard, aquarium pump and bubble stone), some people do this while etching. Re-use same solution bath again and again. Etches will go faster and be higher quality if you flip your board over and let the brownish gunk fall away from the board, suspend the board on tape/thread or float the board by taping to the bottom of a "boat" of styrofoam. Air bubbles while etching allow for vertical work if needed.

    Details on chemistry, air regen etc. here: not my site, very well explained

    I do jewelry with this and also with electro etching, etching most or all the way through mm of metal, and would have to properly dispose of huge amounts of metal ion contaminated etchant with method above.

    Thought you might want to know of the process improvement. Enjoy.

  11. Tim C

    I just found this site while looking for makers in Louisville. I own a small electronics shop on Broadway. I have a couple of spray etchant tanks that I don't use anymore. One is a large Kepro benchtop and the other is a compact one called a WaveMaster. I don't use them anymore and they're just collecting dust and taking up space. Free to a good home. email me if you're interested, they beat the hell out of hand agitation and the traces come out a lot finer.

  12. Pingback: Homemade PCB Etchant | JoeKimbler.Com

  13. Randy - N2CUA

    I bake my boards at 150 degrees F for 30 mins or so ..
    Its a BEAR scrubbing the toner off ... but I had to include my name and
    amateur radio callsign on the boards because no one would believe I
    etched them myself lol

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