# Tools and materials

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## Tools
### Laminator
Some household laminators will do, just be sure it supports the extra thickness of a circuit board and possibly cardboard to help it along. I got a generic A3 laminator from AliExpress which has a temperature setting and adjustable springs. It has no brand name, but if you search for "A3 laminator" it's the one that looks like this:

[[bom/laminator.jpg|width=400px]]

### Printer
Many people use a laser printer, but the ones I had did not deposit enough toner to work all that well. For an inkjet printer the best results are achieved with inks based on pigments instead of dyes.

The printer I use is a Canon PIXMA iP7250, which is not all that expensive. For any Canon use the official "PGI" range or cartridges, as these are pigment based. With these I do not need to double up on transparencies to get great results.

## Consumables
### Transparencies
Use transparencies designed for your printer type. The ones I use are Esselte 57161.

http://www.123inkt.nl/Esselte-57161-transparanten-voor-inkjet-printers-50-bladen-57161-i22534-t33400.html

### Circuit board
I don't use boards with a presensitized photoresist layer, so any plain single or double sided board will do. Don't get the cheap cardboard ones though.

Adding the film yourself is a bit of extra work, but allows you to retry if the exposure fails. Replacing the film is a lot cheaper than wasting copper.

### Photosensitive film
Search eBay for "photosensitive dry film PCB". The rolls are blue and typically come in 30cm x 5m.

### UV curable solder mask (optional)
UV curable paint which can be used to create a solder mask.
The set I got comes in little syringe tubes in various colours and were ordered from AliExpress.


## Chemicals
Note: I forgot most of my chemistry lessons, so any chemist will probably yell at me for getting the mixes all wrong. They are not accurate by a long stretch. They are however good enough to work well for my purpose.

### Sodium metasilicate
Used to develop the photosensitive film. The recommended solution is 4,8%.

Purchased as a 37% solution:<br>
https://www.deoplosmiddelspecialist.nl/kopen/natriumsilicaat-glaswater

Added 100 ml of the sodium metasilicate solution to 750 ml of demineralised water.

### Ferric chloride
Used to do the actual etching. You can get it in solid form and dilute it yourself, but since I don't use that much I just get it premixed to 40% in 1 liter bottles, which can be used straight up:
https://www.deoplosmiddelspecialist.nl/kopen/Ijzerchloride-40-1L

### Sodium hydroxide
Used to remove the remaining photosensitive film after etching. The recommended solution is 1%.

Purchased as a 10% solution:<br>
https://www.deoplosmiddelspecialist.nl/kopen/Natronloog10

Added 100 ml of the sodium hydroxide solution to 900 ml of demineralised water.