How fine of a line can you make with our "Direct Etch" system, you ask?
This "display" board on the left was made to show several things and is appropriate to show here because it sums up what we did in the prior section (The 15min PCB). It graphically shows you the extreme differences of a PCB finished with silver plate and translucent green spray over the board. (Click photo to enlarge)

Of particular importance here is to show you how fine of a line (trace width) you can expect to see on your boards.
About This Image: The artwork for this board was made with a very old, very tired "HP-4" printer (one of the best printers ever made). Last time we checked on eBay, the going price for an HP-4 (or HP-5 for that matter - same engine used) was about $150 ~ $200. However, it's important NOT to get one with the suffix letters 'P' or 'L' - although 'M' is ok). So that there is no confusion about the model numbers... look for HP4, HP4/M, HP5 or HP5/M. The 'M' stands for Macintosh because there is a required Postscript interpreter for these incredible machines - no bias here I'm sure. PC's will hookup like normal.

Take note of the trace widths shown above the traces going between the IC pads. Trace widths of .012 and .010" are pretty standard for being able to put one trace between pads, however, take a closer look at the .008" and .006" tracks... we're putting TWO tracks between .1" IC pads!

There are board fabrication houses that won't touch a board with traces finer than .010". Well we went a lot farther than that by taking the tracks down to .006"... and then put TWO traces between .1" IC pin pads! Now that's approaching "fineline" capability.