Employing copper clad boards is one of the most inexpensive ways to make hobby or prototype PCB or printed circuit board. Further, a metal core PCB such as copper clad board is a coat of insulating substrate (more often than not fiberglass & epoxy) & copper, which is utilized to make PCB tracks which connect elements of a circuit etched to it. They are pretty inexpensive, & they could be created into professional looking boards with plain domestic materials.
Advantages:
Inexpensive: Making your board from a copper clad is usually more cost-effective as compared to ordering a prototype batch from a fabricator, as they usually take a setup charge or base cost, which whilst purchasing a big volume is not an issue as it showcases a minor percentage of the whole order, nevertheless when purchasing 1 or 2 boards it could be as much as 10 times the price of a copper clad, in addition to shipping.
Quick: Ordering from a fabricator could consume a long time. The majority of orders are shipped in 5 to 6 days for the fundamental shipping alternative, however in case you require a board quick you could expect to pay pretty a lot more, & it still consumes 2 to 3 days to ship. Creating a board from a copper clad is extremely quick, especially in case you already possess the materials required at home or in the laboratory.
Tailor-made: Designing your own copper clad boards has the big benefit of making tailor-made shapes as well as sizes, thing which the majority of fabricators cannot (or will not) carry out, or would charge excessive fees. This provides you the suppleness to create your circuits fit into bizarre shapes, or creating very small boards.
Disadvantages:
Chemicals: To design a copper clad into a working printed circuit board, you require to function with causative chemicals to take out the copper so as to make the tracks which connect the elements. Utilizing protective gear, working in a good ventilated region and adequate handling can alleviate the dangers; however, disposing of exhausted chemicals is still a problem.
The procedure: itself is one of the shortcomings of working with copper clads since you would be working with heat, particular paper & printing of the design in case you employ the common toner transfer procedure. As you would be DIY and not utilizing professional gear, there is a possibility of the toner not transferring rightly or soldering artifacts that would make that specific board not viable.