During the entire process I thought many times that I wish I had simply bought the V2.7 and been done with it. If for no other reason than the time and overall cost once you factor in buying the blank board, paper to print the images, acid to etch, drill bits to drill with, etc. etc. But then you still have to either build a jacks board or strip an IDE cable and solder all of those wires to the various jacks and figure out how to mount a USB bracket. I preferred the jacks board as it seemed overall less effort than soldering individual wires and constructing some custom bracket to mount my USB connector. And following the logic if I'm going to make a jacks board I might as well make the main board.
It certainly sounds easy enough reading web pages about making a PCB and soldering on the components. But for the total novice it is fairly stressful venturing into the unknown, particularly when the boards and components are so tiny and intricate. You just need to go into the project with the expectation you might be making the board a couple of times and chalk it up to your educational experience. I'm not saying you WILL screw up the board. You probably won't.
I'm just saying don't set yourself for failure and disappointment by setting your expectations too high.
As you've already seen with the PRINTING, which you would surely guess should be the simplest part of the entire process, nothing is likely to be perfect on the first shot.
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 3:05 pm
I'd recommend a help of some friend that has experience in electronics or making boards, that will save a lot of hassle and dissappointment if you go too fast and screw something.. just go SLOW.