I've been using magazines and it works about half of the time. Thick sheets work better but they are hard to find and I must cut them to size.
I'd rather just have something that works so I bought glossy yellow paper meant for toner transfer on Amazon.
It didn't work at all, my printer can hardly get the toner to stick. Magazines are better, but they still are not good.
Is there a type of paper that works consistently?
Coated paper Its the paper that I use, after the iron in the pcb, its easy to remove when you put the pcb in the water. Just remember to use a lot of toner.
I personally use trace paper for the transfer. And as Rodion Gorkovenko mentioned you should make sure that the copper surface is clean.
And there are so many things that can go wrong.
You should apply heat to the paper atleast for 3-5 minutes to be sure. And if some tracks are missing then you can use a good permanent marker to join them. I use whitener for this purpose.
You should always take the print in a laser printer. An inkjet printer wont work at all.
And make sure that the iron you are using is not a "steam iron", if possible use one with a complete flat surface.
Hope this helps you.
It didn't work at all, my printer can hardly get the toner to stick.
Well, it probably will work all right but the problem is this specific printer (and my as well) could not heat the sheet well enough :(
So probably you will not be satisfied with any paper.
Though another thing to think about is the preparation of the PCB. It should be cleaned very well to allow toner to stick better. I use toothpaste and brush and some liquids for cleaning the bathtub usually :)
But I suggest you can use other approach instead, with photoresist. It is bit more costly, of course compared to paper and printer, but I suspect the paper from amazon was not cheap also :)
For home use I suggest liquid photoresist rather than film. Once you get all necessary paraphernalia and make one or two attempts you may find it more convenient...
Try to use glossy sheet,OHP sheet for toner transfer method.One day I just done with normal paper,and ended up with failure.Then I chose glossy sheet for toner transfer method.It works fine for me for tssop package.My advise is to use glossy sheet or OHP sheet.While transferring the print to board with hot iron,dont scrub in it.A small shake during transfer will make thinks bad.Just apply heat over it without shaking.During dry Iron,use maximum heat.
