How many watts was the YAG laser?
Concerning the cut lines from the laser being too narrow, would it be
possible to increase the diameter of the laser surface workspace diameter so
only one pass (or a couple) would be needed?
_____
From:
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Bob Butcher
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 7:20 AM
To:
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.comSubject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Electrical Discharge Machining plus painted
board plus CNC x-y table
A few years ago before I retired I had access to a large (3ft X 4 ft) CNC
YAG laser system that I used on occasion to do the same thing. It worked
well and I was able to get very fine lines, in fact, too narrow. The laser
cut was only about .001-.002" wide, and usually I had to make multiple cuts
to get it to etch cleanly. Definitely overkill considering the cost of the
syatem, but it was not being used for anything else at the time.
One other problem that needs to be resolved as with any technique like this.
You need software to remove the paint between traces. It is much easier to
create lines where you want traces. I used AutoCad to draw lines around all
connected pads creating "islands" of connected pads. While this worked, the
time I spent fiddling with it was not cost effective. You might be able to
create a negative image of the PCB traces and find some software that would
create a raster scan of all areas between traces. Perhaps if you have
MasterCam or some similar program you could create "G code" to accomplish
this since it is essentially a pocket routine.
Bob
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