--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Fast Eddie" <epinnell@...> wrote:
> I'm trying to improve on my process for cutting various thicknesses of PCB material...
My rememberance of how the LPKF PCB mill works is that it just plunges through the FR4 and then just munches through the cut path with the side of the "routing" bit. The only breaking left to do is for you to separate the almost entirely fully-routed-out board from the remainder of the substrate held together only by those little finger-tabbamabobs. I'm not sure what "veining bits" are, and how those may or may not relate to this method, but it doesn't use either of the former two types of bits.
It would seem (to me, anyways) that any cutting method that relies heavily on the use of a tool tip, versus the cutting ability of the shaft itself, is going to be less cost-effective. Some care does need to be taken to keep the RPMs up and the feed rate slow enough to keep the bits from breaking, especially around turns.
I'd definitely be interested in hearing contrary opinions about the economics of scoring+breaking vs. plunging+routing.
-e