[ THE JOURNEY — TP1 ]
Every board you’ve ever ordered — every phone, charger and dev kit — started as a dull sheet of copper-clad laminate in a factory most engineers never see inside. This series follows one PCB through that factory, machine by machine: what touches it, what dissolves it, what presses it at 180 °C, and how it comes out the other end tested, cut and shrink-wrapped.
One story, twelve chapters. A new chapter goes live every two weeks.
01
Anatomy of a Bare PCB
What’s actually inside those layers: copper, glass weave, resin and the stack-up that holds your signals.
COMING SOON
02
Copper-Clad Laminate: How FR-4 Is Born
Glass fabric, epoxy resin and copper foil become the material everything else is built on.
COMING SOON
03
From Gerber to Factory: CAM & Panelization
What a CAM engineer does to your files before a single machine starts.
COMING SOON
04
Printing the Invisible Circuit: Photoresist & LDI
How a laser draws your traces in light before any copper moves.
COMING SOON
05
Etching
Chemistry that dissolves everything that isn’t your circuit — micrometres of copper on schedule.
COMING SOON
06
Drilling: Spindles & Laser Microvias
200,000-RPM spindles and lasers that drill holes thinner than a hair.
COMING SOON
07
Making Holes Conductive
The electroless copper and electroplating line that turns bare holes into vias.
COMING SOON
08
Multilayer Lamination
Prepreg, the hot press, and layer registration — one board that can’t come apart.
COMING SOON
09
Solder Mask: Why Boards Are Green
The armor coat, how it’s applied, and what happens when you order purple.
COMING SOON
10
Surface Finishes: HASL vs ENIG vs OSP
What protects your pads, and which finish your assembly process wants.
COMING SOON
11
Silkscreen & Legend Printing
Reference designators, logos, and how they end up crisp (or smudged).
COMING SOON
12
Testing & Shipping
Flying probe, AOI, V-scoring, routing and the box that lands on your bench.
COMING SOON