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DIY PCB making, milling or chemical etching?
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this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2026
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I think laser engraving is probably the best way to make them at home, although just buying from a pcb service like jlc is the best option if you can wait.
I have two laser heads, a 405nm 500mW and 450nm at 10W laser. I don't think either of them are suitable for burning away copper but I can try that. I believe to burn away copper you need a pulsed YAG laser or something like that.
Yeah I think you would need to get a fiber laser, but it probably wouldn't need much power.
I have heard of using diode lasers to burn off a mask for etching, though.
Yes I've tried that as well. It's way better than messing with toner transfer or those etch resist foils/spray.
It also works well for solder mask. If you apply one white layer and a green layer on top of that you can make decent part labels by lasering away only the green top layer.