Has anyone tried to create their own circuit board pen Blank?

[ALexG]

if so how did you do it?, didn't try it yet, but though that sanding the resin to a thin layer and applying some heat before gluing around the tube and then clear casting may work.. or not?

 

[ed4copies]

The circuit board pen was available here on IAP by member Bruce119 for over a year before it became a "product" from the "big boys" in the industry.

Yes, Bruce sanded off the back (but warned us several times that this could be toxic---"Don't try this at home), then put it around the tube and cast---sounds easy until you try it.

Good luck!!
(It would be cheaper to buy them)

 

[Justturnin]

I have thought about this as well and heard about theToxins. My though would be to wet sand them on a SMOOOOOTH surface so you are not dealing with the dust then rinse them off nicely and let them dry for a while. You may be able to put them in a toaster oven at 125 -150 to soften them up. I would test heating and bending on the off cuts prior to doing you actual pieces....but I am sure you would wheather or not I said that.

 

[Dave_M]

Heat will not cause the circuit boards to bend. They are designed to handle a lot of heat.

 

[workinforwood]

Bruce used to sand them super thin to be able to bend them on the tube. It's a lot of work. Like Ed said..many products you see mass produced where developed in places like here on the IAP first and then hijacked by some corporation. Those "big guys" did not come up with coffee beans and worthless wood, and circuit boards and half the other stuff they sold on their own. It's us little guys with the imagination that come up with the ideas, and of course patenting the idea's is expensive so that is rarely done since you have to make a ton of stuff just to break even, so you have to just try and keep on top of the ball and develop new stuff and capitalize on it as fast as you can before it's stolen and produced in a factory.

 

[srf1114]

As mentioned heating to that low a temp will not do any thing. They routinely experience higher temps while in use. Heating them to temps high enough to make them "bendy" is very dangerous. This boards contain many dangerous chemicals, most notably arsenic. Breathing the dust from sanding or the fumes from baking is extremely hazard to your health.

 

[ALexG]

good tips, thanks all, your comments reminded myself 30 years ago in a technical High School from where I became an electronic technician and used to make my own circuit boards from scratch using acid to dissolve the copper and the smell of the back resin when soldering..yes, those fumes can be very harmful, that's why I love turning because there is always something to learn and experiment

 

[thestland@msn.com]

circuit board pen blanks

Has anyone tried to simply take a photo of a pc board and crop it to the size of your pen tube and then print it on sticker paper. Then roll the photo onto your tube and cast it in clear acrylic. I've done this with quite a few different photographs with good success. Try it!

 

[KenV]

Has anyone tried to simply take a photo of a pc board and crop it to the size of your pen tube and then print it on sticker paper. Then roll the photo onto your tube and cast it in clear acrylic. I've done this with quite a few different photographs with good success. Try it!

Some marketed as Circuit Board blanks were made this way and imported. Examination of the end showed them to be "fake" circuit board blanks.

Many of those imported by the "Big Guys" did not begin as circuit boards -- but were made to look like one but be able to be easily formed around the tubes.

 

[wobblybootie]

Not sure if it's worth mentioning ... My Geek/Nerd Son tells me that there are flexible circuit boards available, if you know where to look, that will bend enough to fit round a pen (he told me when I presented him with a CB Pen I made for him) However they are very costly and you would have to spend days populating the damn thing with components ... Better to just suck it up and buy the ready cast blank I guess.