I know the actual difference but when is normal copper clad used? can it be used with a UV light box and sodium hydroxide and ferric chloride in the same method? if so, why buy photo resist? if not, what method do i use copper clad to make a PCB? thanks
You can start with a plain copper clad board and add a photoresist coating to convert it into a photoresist board. You used to be able to buy spray-on photoresist but nowadays it's common to apply the coating as dry film that you laminate onto the board with a hot roller device. But for small quantities it's usually cheaper, and definitely more convenient, to buy pre-coated boards. You'd start with a plain copper clad board if you weren't going to use a direct photographic method to create the mask that protects the copper from etching. You might use an indirect method, for instance by creating a silkscreen and then silkscreening the etch protection to the board. In the distant past I used to use an enamel-ink pen to hand-draw the mask. That's easy, cheap and it works well for layouts that don't require fine pitch. Or you can use a non-etch method to remove the unwanted copper: commercially you'd probably use a CNC router to do that but for a hobbyist a Dremel with the right bit would work just fine for simple layouts.
