[sdiy] Personal Pcb milling machines ???

[Robert Spencer]

Is there special hardware required for the Auto-Level function on ChilliPepper? 

Rob Spencer
GMSN!

From:  Synth-diy <synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl> on behalf of Julien Delgoulet <jdelgoulet at free.fr>
Date:  Thursday, 31 December 2015 01:47
To:  Dan Snazelle <subjectivity at hotmail.com>
Cc:  sdiy <Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
Subject:  Re: [sdiy] Personal Pcb milling machines ???

Have a look at CNC like the shapeoko. Users have successfully mill PCB for thru hole and SMD. One of the key thing is having a floating head (like on some LPKF) or having the software calculate the planearity of the board (like http://chilipeppr.com/tinyg does)

For drilling there are some softwares that make use of a camera and some manually registered holes to create a transformation matrix to prevent you from having to perfectly align the board.

Le 30 déc. 2015 à 23:10, Dan Snazelle <subjectivity at hotmail.com> a écrit :

Thanks for all the advice !!!!

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 30, 2015, at 4:43 PM, rsdio at audiobanshee.com wrote:

I didn't realize you were talking about milling the entire PCB, rather than just drilling the holes after etching the copper through some other means. Metrix has done both. They originally used the milling machine for the whole process, then they got an LPKF Protolaser S that can cut 2 mil trace / space PCBs without breaking bits. They now use the milling machine for drill holes only, thus the need for registration points when moving the board from one process to the next.

My point is that the equipment costs can be shared if you live in an area where there are other PCB designers.

Brian


On Dec 30, 2015, at 11:09 AM, rsdio at audiobanshee.com wrote:
Metrix Create:Space here in Seattle has a milling machine that they use and also make available by the hour for customer projects. I don't know its capabilities, but I do recall that drill bits break, and alignment is done by drilling guide holes before the PCB is fabricated - so that the drilling can line up with the traces. I also don't recall how long it takes to complete a board.

I believe it's a lot of work to master the many steps required to finish a board this way. I suppose it can be faster than ordering a board from an outside shop, but you'll be spending a lot of time that you could use more productively on something else.

Brian


On Dec 30, 2015, at 6:18 AM, Dan Snazelle <subjectivity at hotmail.com> wrote:
Does anyone on here own a pcb Miller ? I am starting to spend a lot on quick prototypes and am just wondering if throwing down a couple grand would mean I could go straight from a gerber to a testable board in an hour 

But I'm sure there are downsides 


Any info appreciated!!

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