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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: trenzafeeds on Wed, 18 May 2016, 08:45:13
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I recently looking at pictures of customs with transparent plates, and it got me thinking about the power that rgb leds on the bottom of a pcb would if the PCB was transparent. I've done a bit of researching around, but unfortunately I don't know a ton about PCB design, and it seems that the only options (like this (http://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/glass-pcbs/)) aren't exactly what I'm looking for. I've found a lot info about flex cables as well, but those also don't seem like they would suit my needs. I'm going to keep digging around, but I thought I'd open this up in case anyone else has input!
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Hand wired is the most transparent a PCB can get. :))
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This guy makes pcbs out of glass
and here they are making it out of conductive adhesive sheet. Apply it to acrylic or glass and have it crystal clear http://fab.cba.mit.edu/content/processes/PCB/vinylcut.html
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This guy makes pcbs out of glass
and here they are making it out of conductive adhesive sheet. Apply it to acrylic or glass and have it crystal clear http://fab.cba.mit.edu/content/processes/PCB/vinylcut.html
haha, that's the same video I found.
This is interesting... I'll have to check it out more extensively
When I get home this afternoon I'm gonna shoot some emails off to some different PCB production companies, just to see on the off-chance if any of them have experimented with stuff like this before. Not likely, but its worth a shot!
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Completely transparent, or is trace visibility OK? Because this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conductive_polymer seems like a nice way of making totally transparent PCBs.
You could also try chemical deposition of metallic surfaces and/or electroplating a transparent plastic, then etching the result (or getting the pattern on it prior to deposition).
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In most cases it's not worth the bother. There's a reason they use the materials they do in PCB making (glass fibre reinforced epoxy). It has good thermal and mechanical properties, so tracks don't lift easily, it's tough and you can drill through it easily for through-mount components.
If you apply copper traces to glass you've got more likelihood for track lift (adhesive coming loose and differential thermal expansion causing tracks to ripple / break) and you can't mount drill the holes easily for mounting MX switches, etc.
With acrylic you'll melt the acrylic when soldering (which causes lots of problems, including nasty gases), although it could be done for a one-off board if you're willing to put all the effort in and take enough precautions, although preventing a 1.6mm acrylic sheet from warping during soldering could be tough.
My advice would be hand wiring and plate mounting if you're going for a complete transparent look. You can use point-to-point wiring techniques to get that old-school tube amp look if you work neatly, with nicely hand-bent wiring:
(http://b3.img.mobypicture.com/0fcf5ebef9d815a1af3eee60129a5b69_view.jpg)
It can also give a nice 3D look to the wiring. Another interesting option, but it makes it impossible to change / update / repair:
(http://i.imgur.com/dNJkNUp.jpg)
Mod Edit: Added img tags to that beautiful second image.
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I know that hand wiring is an option, I was looking at a pcb however because I was hoping to have something transparent combined with RGB under lighting. I don't believe there's a way to do under lighting with hand wiring, is there?
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I don't see why not. With hand wiring you can put the LEDs wherever the hell you want and run them off different pins from your controller. A PCB just makes the whole process a lot neater.
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I don't see why not. With hand wiring you can put the LEDs wherever the hell you want and run them off different pins from your controller. A PCB just makes the whole process a lot neater.
mmmk, that makes total sense. To be honest I can't quite shake my obsession with a transparent pcb though.
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A transparent PCB would have some sick light diffusion capabilities which would also be able to light up the circuitry.
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How would you solder on the components? AFAIK acrylic melts under high temperature and thin glass cracks. Resin casing would look awesome, that Crystal cMoy Instructable is awe-inspiring :)