GoKawiilThere comes a time for many electronics enthusiasts and tinkerers when they wish they had a custom-made PCB for a project. If you enjoy a bit of crafting, the netizens over at Feminist Hacking might have a compelling solution for PCB-needy DIYers, using real clay to produce working PCBs, as shared in a blog post headed “MaKING Printed Circuit Boards with Wild Clay.”
The hacktivists behind this project didn’t just want a craft project as a source of artistic satisfaction. This is made clear in the intro to the blog, where they ponder the “open secret that the hardware in our smart devices contains not only plastics but also conflict minerals.” However, it didn’t take long to narrow down the options to come up with the idea of clay PCBs.
Porcelain “already plays an important role in electronic components such as capacitors, piezo, resistors, and so on,” note the hacktivists. But they didn’t want to buy commercial china clay or use expensive, unsustainable, resource-draining firing techniques.
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'Prehistoric techniques of firing clay'
After some research, they learned from a pottery artisan that you can use “prehistoric techniques of firing clay in an open wood fire” to do the job. After spending two days with this craftsperson, the hacktivists learned to locally source clay, work it, and fire it to make these “natural clay PCB boards.”
The blog gives tips for collecting and mixing clay, ready for working into rounds, with all air and impurities minimized. That’s important for uniform, consistent, well-behaved clay PCBs.
A hexagon shape was chosen as this cookie cutter “can be bought in most ceramic shops,” but only rough dimensions of approx 10x10cm (~4x4 inches) are required, not any particular shape. Originally, the hexagon was chosen to make the PCBs easy to connect, but that idea has been shelved as the fired tablet edges aren’t that precise.
Remember, we are working with less elastic and more fragile clay than you may get in a craft store. The hacktivists note it might be rough or split at the edges. As long as the inner cutter area removes this, it isn’t a problem.
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