Fabric PCB Tutorial

supplies

illustrator file with circuit drawing
constructing: conductive fabric, backing fabric, mat knife, iron
soldering: LED, resistor, pliers, flux, clamp, soldering iron & solder
protecting: epoxy, toothpicks, binder clips, mold components


constructing a fabric PCB

step 1. (already done for you) iron a sheet of Heat-n-Bond onto a sheet of conductive fabric.
step 2. (already done for you) laser etch the circuit.
place the fabric into the machine so that it's paper side is facing up to etch it.
step 3. (already done for you) laser cut the backing fabric.



step 4. peel the paper off of the circuit only where you want it to adhere to the backing fabric.



step 5. iron the circuit onto the backing fabric.



step 6. peel the excess conductive fabric away from the backing fabric, leaving the circuit behind.


soldering a fabric PCB



step 1. bend the ends of the resistor down & insert into fabric PCB



step 2. bend resistor legs out slightly and apply flux
step 3. solder resistor

watch soldering video

step 3. trim legs
step 5. insert LED with + end (anode) facing resistor
step 6. bend legs out slightly and apply flux
step 7. hold LED with clamp to solder
step 8. trim legs



step 9. test with power supply


protecting the solder joints

step 1. clamp circuit to mold with binder clips



step 2. mix epoxy and pour into mold



step 3. wait for epoxy to cure (approx. 10 mins)
step 4. remove circuit from mold



step 8. test with power supply