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The High Efficiency (HE) -300 is used extensively by the hand-silvering and recording industries. It is a three part sludgeless system where two of the solutions are mixed together before use. Besides the increased efficiency in depositing more silver with less waste, the adhesion of silver to glass is improved when using this product. The formulation is flexible so that variations in reaction times can be attained by heating or varying the concentration of solutions. Solutions can be applied with conveyor systems, hand sprayed or poured. See direction sheets for mixing instructions. When ordering silvering chemicals, be aware of their shelf life. Storage in a cool dark place prolongs shelf life. Refrigeration is recommended but not necessary. Store containers tightly capped.

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Shelf Life: Silver Solution “A”: 1-2 yr.; Activator Solution “B”: 6-9 months; Reducer Solution “C”: 1-2 yr..

Formulated specifically for hard to “wet surfaces” such as waxes, plastics, rubber, and silk screen inks, this liquid concentrate is also excellent on old and new glass.

Also used on silvering conveyors with long “laytime” between the tin rinse and the silvering section. Some formulations are concentrates; use 2-4 ounces per gallon of deionized water. The amount of wetting required will determine the exact mix.

Shelve lives vary between 6 months to over one year (see respective product listings). Keep the bottle tightly capped and in a cool dark place. A diluted solution has a pot life of 24 hours and must be made fresh daily.

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Contact us to discuss your requirements of Photoresist Thinner. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

Our thinners and solvents are top grade. Unlike some cheaper brands, they are refined from new stock and are purer than those refined from reclaimed or recycled materials.

To prevent the introduction of contaminants into mirror backing paints, we recommend the use of our solvents and thinners.

The tools of the trade are diverse and many commercial shops have spraying systems that will properly utilize our silvering products. If your shop needs to update your application tools, needs to repair your tools, or want to purchase brand new tools, Peacock Labs stocks a wide array of sprayers, repair kits, and accessories to ensure the project is “done right”.

To assist our customers with their commercial and artistic mirroring projects, Peacock Labs stocks and sells many different chemicals. The following are some of the chemicals currently available. If there is something your project requires but is not listed in our e-store, please call us for availability and pricing.

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For those who are interested, I found this on Jon Elson's Home Page:

Resists
I currently use DuPont Riston dry film resist. I was lucky enough to get a dry film laminator at a good price. For lower volume, I would suggest you buy the board pre sensitized with the dry film resist. I used to use pre-sensitized boards from Kepro, in St. Louis, MO, USA. There might be someone closer to you who supplies similar material. I tried using the liquid resists, like Kodak KPR, and had very erratic results. It was also hard to tell when the resist gave a good print, because it was nearly clear. The Riston has a dark color, so you can easily see the traces and pads, and any defects can be touched up. The main benefit of the dry film is it is remarkably tough, as you will find out if you have to touch it up with an exacto knife. I won't even try the peel-off techniques, I know they won't work for the 2-sided work I'm doing.

Exposing Light Source
The resist hardens (cross polymerizes) under mercury-band UV light (357 and 406 nM). I used to use a 400 W mercury-vapor lamp with the outer, shield bulb removed, at about 30 cM, for 16 minutes per side. I have switched to using UV fluorescent lamps that have a peak output around 350 nM wavelength. Apparently the lamps used in backyard electric 'bug-zappers' are quite similar to this, and those can be picked up in your local hardware store.

Setting correct exposure time is somewhat trial and error, but using a Stauffer ST-21 step tablet (available at photo supply stores) will make the process much easier. You should try to get an exposure that causes the resist at step #7 to remain solid after development. This ensures that a clear spot on the film will result in an even harder resist than what was under your #7 step, because it got even more light. (On the ST-21, step 1 is nearly clear, while step 21 is totally black.)

Exposure Frame
For best results, the emulsion side of the master film should be held in close contact with the resist surface. I use a home-made vacuum frame. It consists of 2 sheets of 1/8" Plexiglas. One sheet has a 1/8" NPT angle pipe fitting threaded into it, for the vacuum hose. The other sheet has a ring of .060" plexiglas strips glued around the edge. Just outside this ring is a piece of very thin (about 1/8" OD) Tygon plastic tube, used as an O-ring. The ends are glued together, and it is tacked down in a few spots with contact cement. The vacuum pump is a small diaphragm-type pump. it really doesn't need to provide much suction, due to the large area of the sheets. Mine is about 12 x 18", large enough to do just about anything I'd be likely to do. Right now, I expose one side at a time, but the films are aligned, so I can flip the vacuum frame over without risking that the board will slip out of alignment with the side already exposed.

Note that the dry film resist should be exposed with the cover sheets on, and then held in a dark place for 15 minutes before removing the cover sheets and developing.

Developing the Resist
I develop in Sodium Carbonate for about 3 minutes, at 35-40 C, with very light wiping with the bare fingertips on the resist. Some people are sensitive to the developer, and say a sponge can be used safely. Wash the board very thoroughly, or any softened resist can dry back onto the bare copper. I wipe again with the fingertips during the rinse step. Etch in any acidic etchant, but not alkaline, that will dissolve the resist. Ferric Chloride works, but is messy. I'm looking at Cuprous Chloride. A spray etcher is best, spraying 35 C FeCl2 on both sides of a double sided board at the same time for about 5 minutes. This resist is so good, you can use a dip tank, but it takes about 17 minutes, and the edge definition is poorer. You need constant agitation if you dip or float the board on the etchant. The resist is stripped with NaOH (Lye).

A Trick for Aligning Artwork
I align the two sides of a double-sided board's negatives by gluing them together to a strip of scrap board. I have a plastic sheet which is .060" thick, same as a PC board +/- a few thousandths of an inch. I put it between the two negatives and align them on a light table until the holes line up. I glue the PC board scrap along one edge with rubber cement, with the clear plastic still between the films. I put a heavy weight (perhaps a kilogram or so) over the glue, and then make a final alignment. I usually get registration of .015" or better, depending on what equipment was used to make the films. Note that laser printers are not very accurate, and so any board bigger than, say, 100 mm (4") on a side will not line up at all the holes. You need to take your master artwork, however you make it, and make a negative on high contrast film, such as Kodalith (Lithograph-type) film. The resist is low contrast, and so the negative must be very high contrast, or you will have light leaking through the areas that are supposed to be black, and causing the resist to not all wash off there. That will ruin the board.

I have modified a Calcomp plotter to hold a light-pen (optical fiber), and write on litho type film at 1:1 size. It's a haywire contraption, but it does work. This looks like a positive, black lines on a clear background (like a laser print would look) and so I then have to reverse it by contact printing onto the same type film. This improves contrast a bit, too. Then the films are contact printed with the UV light to the circuit board resist.

I have recently built a x DPI photoplotter, using a diode laser to write the artwork on the film. Software can make it positive or negative, so i eliminated the step of contact printing. The accuracy is MUCH higher, so all the holes of 2-sided artwork line up across even a large board.