Making your own
printed circuit board
(PCB) might seem a
daunting task, but
once you master the
steps, it’s easy to
attain professional-
looking results.
Printed circuit boards, which connect
chips and other components, are what
make almost all modern electronic devices

Photograph by Derrick Story, PC board created by Andrew Argyle

possible. PCBs are made from sheets of
fiberglass clad with copper, usually in mul-
tiple layers. Cut a computer motherboard
in two, for instance, and you’ll often see
five or more differently patterned layers.
Making boards at home is relatively easy,
but limited to one- or two-layer designs.
Here’s how to create a one-layer board
for a blinking LED circuit. For PCBs, this
exercise is the equivalent of a beginner’s
“Hello World” program in software.