On Fri, 6 Apr 2007 11:05:04 +0100, "Aly"
wrote:

Hello,

Ideas please?

A small professional UV box with two 8W tubes will cost about £100, and is,
professionally made and neat and tidy. I'm wondering if for sake of ease it
would be easier to just go out and buy one?

I've seen the UV "fly killer," tubes on eBay for say £10, which are
mentioned in a few of the tutorials online. Ballasts I have at home
somewhere. Would need a neat little case, cut glass, switches, bits bobs,
and time.

This is all purely for making the odd PCB so nothing commercial. There's
also those little UV nail boxes for curing the plastic, they're only about
£20 although I wonder about even coverage with those, and if indeed it is
the right type of UV?

Circular tubes? U-shaped tubes? Straight tubes? Little 9W dual parallel
tubes?

I'm just wondering in the end if it would be easier to just buy one,
although that's not really in keeping with the spirit of diy.

Many thanks for any input, I'm just looking for ideas and opinons really.
I'd also be half tempted to put in regular tubes too so that it can be used
as a light box.


I don't use the photo method much anymore, but
for many years I did it wifh a UV tanning floodlamp
in one of those clamp-on utility lights with a spun aluminum
reflector. I'd lay the PCB on a piece of plywood on the
floor, with the artwork taped over it and a sheet of
ordinary window glass on top to make sure everything
was flat. The tanning light was clamped to the back
of a chair so it was 2-3 feet from the work, and
pointing straight down at the center of the board.

True, that plain glass probably blocked some UV,
but so what? The tanning flood puts out a ton of it,
and you don't really want a super-short exposure here.
Several minutes is fine, since it gives you some
room to adjust exposure times.

Best regards,


Bob Masta

D A Q A R T A
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www.daqarta.com
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