Gareth, I tried to make this work several times, and got no where. It finally occurred to me that you're using nail polish remover, which isn't acetone; it contains acetone. A quick check of the product MSDS reveals that the specific gravity is .82 to .85; since pure acetone is .787, this means that it probably contains about 75% acetone (ignoring the confounding variables of aloe vera oil and scents). When I diluted my pure acetone down to 75% - 3 parts acetone to one part distilled water - I got much better results. I also found that a towel placed under the PCB - as you did - absorbs excess solution, and prevents it from being reabsorbed into the work, where it can cause damage. One difference I introduced was the use of a kitchen rolling pin; this allowed me to exert much greater vertical force, while keeping horizontal force at zero. Thanks for an excellent video. >Charlie

hello from Alberta, Canada I am semi-retired now turning 65 years old this year. Took electronics in 1984-1984, Graduated with honors and began my electronics technician career. In all my years I have made a few electronic projects but my pcb boards never turned out well. If I would have seen this 35 years ago I could have made so many projects. I have a few on my mind now and was looking at how to get these done when I came across your article. Well done, many thanks from a former Brit born in Manchester, left in 1975. Much appreciated you sharing this. I can't wait to try it!

Thanks, Gareth, for taking the time to pass along this great way of transferring the circuit design. I'm glad I won't have to buy another piece of equipment, just to use it for an occasional PCB. I'm also impressed that you did it with one hand. Not bad at all.

You are a genius. Your idea saved me 1month waiting for the material which is not available in local stores here. Thank you very much

I used to make my own PCBs back in the day but I have never seen your method using the solvent. I am massively impressed. Thanks for sharing

after a few imperfections, I'm now getting perfect results nearly every time. Total game changer! Thank you Gareth.

This is one of the best toner transfer systems I've ever seen !!! Congratulations!!!

Nice job sir! I've just made a couple of small nameplates this way onto bits of pre-painted wood. Works wonderfully and gives a very solid clear print finish. Opened up a new world of fun projects. Thanks.

By far one of the best how to on KZfaq for a diy pcb. I've watched this a few times. Dude! You make it look easy!

Thank you man! I've always strugled with the heat transfer and your video has just saved my life. Definitively going to share this everywhere. Greetings from Guatemala.

Excellent Video. Thank you for your time used to produce this. I am new to PCB making, and always appreciate input from someone who has already been there.

"Heat the oil in a large pan over a high setting. Add the onion, garlic and chicken and cook until it browns" - Got it ! Thank you very much.

This looks like the easiest method I’ve ever seen and your results look awesome. Hope I can do as well when I try it.

Going back in years before pc’s and home printers I used to draw out the track with nail varnish, quite crude but either on very simple pre-IC circuits. Definitely will try this method now I have all tech in hand. Thanks for sharing

This is a super easy method for super professional pcb etching! Thanks a lot. I regret that I never came across this video earlier.

A student of mine, Greg Smith, got me interested in electronics around 40 years ago. Haven't done much since then but now I am retired with a great hobby. After watching your video I am ready to try PCB making. Thanks for a great introduction.

Tried this this afternoon, on a piece of scrap board with 0603 smd components. The results where perfect first time. Very professional looking board that worked first time. Thank you for sharing this method its now my preferred method of prototyping.

The title ought to read - _"DIY PCB Toner Transfer (No Heat) & Etching - with _*_one_*_ hand"_ Every respect for coming up with this brilliant no-heat transfer method! I've not etched anything in years but I will try this for sure. Thanks! I understand that the additive that is used to make glossy magazine paper is China Clay.

I have spent years making pcbs by the old heat transfer method and you have just brightened my life. 😎✔❤😍

Brilliant method. I was not going to do any proto PCBs until I saw your vid. Thank you for taking the time to edit and shoot this instructional.

Fantastic video- I have tried the toner transfer method many ways, but it's hard to do reliably with pressure/heat, even if you have expensive toner transfer paper. Thanks for sharing. Couple things I will share that helped me: 1) The final step (removing the toner after etching) works great with pure acetone... it just slides right off in a couple wipes. No risk of abrading/tearing small copper features 2) Ferric Chloride liquid can be hazardous/expensive to ship- try ferric chloride anhydrous (dry powder, add water to make acid) 3) Etching is messy; most reliable/clean way I've seen is with Ziploc bags (double-bag!). Sand off sharp edges of board; fill bags 1/2 full of acid & drop board in. Seal both bags. Rub gently with fingers & slosh acid around. "Massaging" the copper increases etching rate a lot and you can work the areas that need it most; best of all, you can bring it to the top of the acid & see progress as often as you like. Takes a couple minutes; Pull out board & reseal bags or dump acid into container. Hardly spills a drop.

It's a huge upgrade of iron method. Man, where you've been ten years ago? You could make those 10 years much easier for me ;)

Brilliant. I use this process now for all my boards and it works great! Thank you Gareth!

Great job Gareth! I’m really impressed with the resultant quality and simplicity of your method. I guess it would become my favorite one. Greetings from Russia )

Hi Gareth, thank you very much. I'm deeply impressed. After using the iron for years i still had pcbs that didn't looked that great. I tried your method with three different polish removers and a piece of gift wrap and it worked right from the start. Unbelievable!

Wow this is just what i needed, building a big muff guitar pedal and i'm just at the stage where i need to transfer and etch, Thanks Man!

The best DIY PCB etching to date! Thanks to your clever tip, mate!

Thank you for this tip!! I used to use this method using a clothes iron but it was very sloppy. Definitely going to try this on my next project. Thanks again! -Ant

Great video man, the best and easiest method for DIY PCB making in youtube so far. Any body can make a video with expensive printers and special papers but no all the viewers will be able to follow their style. Your's is unique man, All house hold items used. I like your style, Make it simple with what you get( The actual DIY way) Keep making useful and simple videos like this man.

Your approach is so neat. After drilling holes, to remove the black transfer from the copper lands, use acetone on a cotton schwab or cloth, being careful not to destroy the top surface component placement. Much better than the steel wool approach.

Dear Sir, I don’t know how to thank you for sharing this method which is much better than transferring the toner with a hot iron. It’s not giving good results and sometimes the heat causes the copper layer to separate from the plastic. I followed your method using acetone instead of that polish remover I couldn’t fine here. It gave the same result. Just brilliant. Thanks again my friend. ☺

I have used your exact method with my high school electronics class and have had great success. You have simplified my life and health and safety issues and provided an expert level result with very little cost. WELL DONE!!!!!

Congrats mate, u made it one handed while recording. Thank you.

You are a magician? Одной рукой снимает, другой колдует. Чувак - волшебник.

So damn simple, quick and inexpensive. Used to do it the "hard way". Always have plenty of "transfer stock" on hand. Thanks for sharing.

The best DIY printed circuit board single layer procedure I have ever seen.

I'm quite impressed (and surprised to be honest) that acetone can do such a great job transferring toner on to a copper. Great idea! Kudos to you, sir!

Why so many dislikes? You just got rid of the damn iron! This is great! Perfect!!! Thanks.

Great information you have parted to those who are hobbyists who cannot afford to get the Pcbs of their circuits then and there. Thanks a lot for the help.

This is awesome. So much easier than methods I've used and less expensive. I'm going to try this on my next project. Thanks so much!

Tried this myself with pure acetone, different types of glossy magazine, different pressures and different durations soaking the paper. Only one gave a partial transfer. Then I read a comment here about adding water to the acetone (2 parts acetone, 1 part water) and it worked! (Samsung toner). Definitely some chemistry taking place as I tried different colour toners, they start out the toner colour at the time of transfer but then slowly change and become darker. So I would suggest giving it time to rest before etching to 'cure'.

I used to do something similar to this, everything exactly the same except I used an iron instead of nail polish remover to transfer/melt the toner from paper to pcb. Your way seems to work better though as mine was a bit hit and miss! thanks for the video.

Thank you, very creative method for trasnfering the pcb toner. For corrosion process I use a combination of hydrogen peroxide+sulfuric acid+faucet water; I've used it for many years with very results.

Wow, that's the simplest approach I've seen so far.

It's been _decades_ since I made my own PCBs as a young hobbyist. Drawing the traces with a sharpie and etching with FeCl3. One thing I remember discovering very early on was that a PCB floats on FeCl3 if you place it on the surface gently. You can then avoid stirring since any etched away material will simply fall off and sink.

Nice technique, well done. These days I engrave all my boards, but I'll try your technique for silkscreen. Thanks for the video.

Thanks for such a complete demonstration. I'm going to use your technique for my first etched pcb.

That's PCB rock-n-roll! Just what I was looking for to make my new planar speaker headphone membranes!! Thanks!

THAT'S AMAZING- YOU MAKE IT LOOK SO EASY!!!

Absolute genius! Thanks so much for this.

That's a very interesting method that I now have to try. Over the years I've had many problems with the iron method, I've also modified laminators to increase the temperature but had little success...

THANK YOU!!!! THe heat transfer method was always 50/50.. Sometimes you get too much pressure or heat and it flattens out, other times its too cold and doesnt stick. this looks VERY promising!

Everyone's like "man his PCB looks great" but I'm trying to read that chicken stew and rice recipe...

I got this way to work quite well! i bashed out three PCB's yesterday. using a brother laser and semi-gloss finish office paper; it peels without leaving fuzz embeddd in the toner; i used it because i had some, and my printer tries to burn magazine paper...! you may get away with any old crap. 80) Clean the copper using Acetone, NOT nail varnish remover which, as well as being over-priced, contains oils to stop drying of the nail and a large percentage of distilled water...neither of which help at all for this purpose! the stuff i used is about 98% pure, and sold in the 'cleaning-products' isle in the local supermarket's for around 4 euro's a litre. Wipe the board dry with paper tissue. keep your oily fingers off the copper. I soaked the BACK of the paper with a few drops of acetone, which seeps into the paper and dissolves the toner; the reason i soaked the back was to make sure the toner was well dissolved and to avoid smudging the tracks when placing it on the copper. (if you drop acetone on the brother toner it almost dribbles off the paper) the ideal is nothing between the toner and the clean copper...and that includes a layer of acetone... While the paper is still wet, place it carefully onto the copper PCB, press down with your fingers or a flat board padded with tissue ( i used a rubber roller from a dead inkjet printer to roll it firmly on) leave to dry. Soak board in warm water (NOT hot! you don't want to re-fuse the toner ) warm water seems to speed up the 'soaking'; which releases the paper/clay from the toner. you may get away without soaking. Peel off the paper, and you will have the toner firmly stuck to the copper by some strange alchemy... Any traces of the clay used to make office/magazine paper 'shiny' can be gently scrubbed off using your fingers. Etch, and grin like a loony at your wonderous new fab lab.

you saved me, after years of trying and failing. thanks for sharing.

Awesome, I’ve been wasting years using an iron for the transfer, this is way easier and cleaner. Thanks a lot

very nice. and all with one hand...a true maestro! 80) I ended up with crumpled paper jams, tape peeling inside the printer, and pitting where the fuzz stuck to the toner...but i think i'll give this a go with the dozens of old maplin magazines i chopped up. I used an aincient HP laserjet 1000; but it wont feed anything but perfectly flat dry paper, a new Brother 2365 laser (bought especially) is abysmal; it seems to rush and try and save toner, no matter what settings its put on...i found a setting that 'should' have worked..it managed to singe the paper! very impressive...NOT. yet someone else from the UK on 'the 'tube' has done TT (iron-on) using the dog-cheap 'tesco's special' Brother Laser...meh.YMMV

Every day i discover new amazing things in this life. Huge thanks for this, it saves the most important , it saves time. I cant leave without sharing lifehack. If you screwed up with hot glue, just poor it with isopropyl alcohol, and hot glue will fall off almost instantly.

Every Once in a while you come across a decent real info and great video, so Thank You, This is very good!!!!!

You probably get a lot of comments. But i like how you keep it mellow and not all hyped up. Excellent video man.

this was such a great video! really enjoyed that & what a great method!

Great ideas! Thank you. I'd just add that if the layout is done with a copper 'fill' in all the empty spaces it uses up hardly any of the etchant's strength, makes the etching go quicker, and makes it last long enough to allow you to do additional boards with the same etchant.

I used to use a thermal pocket laminating machine I modded with a custom controller to make my custom PCBs... but I put it somewhere safe and can I find the darn thing now I need it. This not only gets around that problem it shows how to do a silkscreen too. Thank you.

The moisturising polish remover is the surprising agent that affiliates the process. Thank you for the awesome video.

So simple and effective, wish I seen this a little earlier. Thanks so much for sharing!

When you etch, try to put carefully PCB upside-down to float copper side on surface. Copper will fall off from PCB better. Look out of bubbles only. :-)

Man, if I had seen this video a week ago... I will definitely try this next time, thanks for sharing!

This deserves multiple thumbs up! Awesome job!! 👍👍

I'm from Brazil!. Congratulations on your contribution; really enjoyed. thank you.

Unbelievable !! Thank you for a nice video...You are genius,

Ive been doing it wrong for years LOL ! Thanks for sharing....and improving my life considerably !

Congratulations!! Professional quality on DIY PCBs. Nice video, well done!

i do the same thing but i just use the big containers of acetone you get from lowes or home depot. i do use a flat board to apply pressure though so its even across the board. i've had some traces get distorted if the pressure is uneven.

Thank you Sir God bless you and your family

Brilliant work, I was about to buy thermal transfer paper to perform the etching, thankfully I saw this video I really appreciate you sharing this will definitely be trying it out today. That silkscreen method is really the cherry on top it's so well done.

I printed out a pattern on a mag and had a spare PCB so I tried it and it worked. The next step it to make one that I will actually use this was just a test and it passes with flying colors,. I poured less than a teaspoon ( small board) worked it in till the remover dried , slowly peeled and there it was , even the small lines came out, Traces between components came out clean , lettering crystal clear. Thanks for this valuable tip.

One hand?? Jesus I couldn't make this toner transfer work even if I had 3 hands.

Super Awesome ! Swap the FeCl3 for Vinegar, Salt and Hydrogen peroxide and all the design/etching materials can be bought in the supermarket ! In the UK they swapped the Acetone in nail varnish remover for Ethyl acetate some years ago. Use gloves with either solvent - they tend to transfer through skin, bringing whatever they dissolved with them.

Single handedly. Amazing work !! Thank you !

Superb.. am just a hobbyist, have been searching for the right solution for toner transfer, this is the best method i could find on the net/youtube so far.. Thank You.

Great video... when etching the PCB, I prefer to put the PCB upside down. Surface tension helps to keep the PCB afloat on top of the ferric chloride.

Молодец! Отлично получилось, особенно если учесть что делал всё однй рукой. Для тех кто не знает английский язык - использовал жидкость для снятия лака.

I just tried this. First attempt was %80 good. Second attempt is %100. It is amazing. Thanks for share this video. I spend much more time for make this with iron.

I have made many boards with toner transfer using a laminator to fuse the toner to the copper. But, this takes the cake! I can't wait until I need a board to try this.

A small "speed-up" hint for the etching portion: After you transfer the toner and wipe it with the sponge, use a hot air station (or heat gun/hair dryer) to warm the copper. Take the time to warm it up and when you dunk it into the ferric chloride, you'll see bubbles and it'll etch at a much higher rate for the next minute or so.

I've reached significant improvement by using other mixture of chemicals and their ratio and that is 8:3 alcohol and acetone (both pure = assurance of real volume of chemicals). But the magic was actually in using rolling pin :) I've combined other manuals, very similar to your video. Many thanks for inspiration!

wow, this will change the way I make boards from now on.. great stuff!!

BEST METHOD YET!! Apart from exposing a board, this has been the most successful. You sound close to Formby..?? Info like this is priceless. Thanks again

1:20 The proper choice of magazines as a source of the paper will make your PCB making process even more interesting :-)

You could improve the silkscreen layer by drilling two key holes in the board first and lining them up with holes in the print

I have made single sided boards as your method , but used heat from an iron. Never have I thought by using acetate it would work the same. Takes a bit of time off , but never the less, fantastic !!

This is a revolution... Awesome... Excellency in simplicity... The only thing I can't understand are those 95 dislikes (at this moment). Thumbs up!

Could you do a video about drilling holes for the trough hole components on the PCB?

so now i can put 2 smiles on the wifes face, 1 no more stealing the iron, 2 this learned me how to make chicken stew and rice in 1hr 30 minutes

thank you sir for being unselfish from your talent and skills

Gareth, this is a brilliant result! I'm looking forward to giving it a try myself. Oh, a channel named Nurdrage has published a simple formula for home made 'liquid tin' - you submerge an etched copper board in the solution, and it instantly plates it with tin. MG chemicals makes retail 'liquid tin', but it's horribly expensive - the nurdrage formula is much cheaper. Haven't tried it yet, but I've bought the components. And, another KZfaq site - chemistry games - has published much the same formula, but working from laboratory pure chemicals, rather than using commercial products, found on store shelves, that contain the active ingredients. I've ordered the pure chemicals, and will do a video comparing the two approaches. And of course, there's always electroplating. I might try that as well. I've come back to this video several times, and watched it from end to end. I REALLY like your result - absolutely one of the best I've seen. I'm definitely going to try it. Spectacular work! >Charlie

I especially liked the last part where you transferred onto fibreglass. That seems like a great idea as a homebrew silkscreen overlay. It looked like it would be much easer with 2 hands so well done on that! I'm thinking some sort of simple press (eg. a couple of smooth blocks with a weight on top or between two blocks in a vise) would also make things easier. I'm keen to try this for myself. One question: Is there something about nail polish remover, like its concentration for instance, that makes it preferable to plain acetone? I ask because a litre of acetone is something I already own and is much cheaper than a small bottle of nail polish remover.

Wow ,goto say that is a lot easier than other methods seen,well done. How does SMD work out say 0603 min size part ok? Best track width used with this sytem? Min Track width used with this system? can set up in rules in pcb cad software then. Rob

I just can't wait to try this method. I've always used inkjet photo paper in a laser printer and then ironed it onto the copper, and has always been working fine, but requires a lot of scrubbing of that micro clay afterwards. Your technique seems alot faster, cleaner and more precise since the ironing technique has more work to it and also need to hit the right heat & timing to avoid smearing. Thanks👍✌

i think you deserve a nobel prize,havent tried it but will try when i get the materials it seems fast and economical for prototypes