That depends on how much junk you have around and how valuable your time
time is. I built mine from an XY table my old boss gave me, a drawer
slide with a Dremel attached with hose clamps, some surplus stepper
motors and samples of Allegro driver chips. I think the only cash
outlay I made was an $8 laptop so I wouldn't have to use my good one.
Of course, if I wanted to mill traces, the Z axis would have to be
perpendicular to X and Y, which it is not. And more software would need
to be written. But for now, it drills my holes and cuts out the board.
Then I use toner transfer.
Kerry
sailingto wrote:
> Thank you for the response Mark - what you are saying is one of the reasons I've been hesitate to invest much money/time in a homebrew CNC mill - concern it would not hold the tolerances required for good PCB milling. Even a home built CNC can cost several hundred bucks!
>
> Maybe when I win the BIG lottery I'll buy the $9K CNC :) (Folks keep telling me I must buy a ticket before I can possibly win:(
>
> Ken H.
>
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Mark Lerman <mlerman@...> wrote:
>
>> I've been milling boards for over a year. It works very well, though
>> the learning curve is a little steeper than you might think. I use an
>> AccurateCNC 360, which is good enough for 10 mil traces and can be
>> used for even finer traces with some care. Double sided is easy,
>> drilling is a snap, and being able to mill the edges of the board
>> gives a very clean cut. I'm not sure whether a simple homemade mill
>> would work as well, but over a smaller area it should work. The 360
>> is about 9K (I think), very pricey for the hobbiest, but it can also
>> be used for milling plastic and even non ferrous metals. Support for
>> this machine is unbelievably great!! The company goes way out of it's
>> way to provide support and repairs, even out of warrantee, and they
>> reply to email extremely promptly. I blew the spindle driver while
>> cutting plastic, and they replaced the driver with a newer one that
>> won't blow at no charge. While they had the machine, they completely
>> checked the calibration and added some hardware to make cutting
>> plastic and softer materials much easier. Again at no charge.
>>
>> The usual disclaimer - I have no financial interest whatsoever in
>> their company, just a very satisfied customer.
>>
>> Mark
>>
>>
>> At 08:49 PM 3/17/2010, you wrote:
>>
>>> Well Mat - I was hoping someone would respond and get a discussion
>>> going on CNC milling of PCB. I have been reading about it and it
>>> sure sounds slick - the videos look good.
>>>
>>> Double sided should be a snap. Drill holes are automated.
>>>
>>> It all "sounds" good, but like you I'd like to know more.
>>>
>>> Ken H.
>>>
>>> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mat_henshall" <mat@> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I am considering getting a small DIY 3 axis CNC router, something
>>>>
>>> like this:
>>>
>>>> http://zentoolworks.com/
>>>>
>>>> To, amongst other things, make PCB's with. Clearly a useful tool
>>>>
>>> for drilling holes, but I have seen youtube videos (eg
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFQotB1aQBQ) of people using this
>>> type of device for milling the pcb itself.
>>>
>>>> I currently use UV Sensitive PCB method for making prototype
>>>>
>>> boards which is OK, but is time consuming, can be error prone and messy.
>>>
>>>> Anybody got any thoughts on milling PCB's? Good, bad the ugly?
>>>>
>>>> One though that occurred to me is that after making it, spraying
>>>>
>>> some form of solder resist to the board and then using some sort of
>>> polishing bit to remove the resist where needed might be a nice touch?
>>>
>>>> Mat
>>>>