Hi Robby
buy my lpkf in 2004 (milling,plating,multilayer press)
and yes it very expensive cost price of a nice car ;-)
i find quickly that for be reliable it need to stay 8 mil and more
even if lpkf rate it for 4 mil trace ,it doable but tool was out of price 25$ for bit that last 3 linear meter !! ,if do 8mil tool was 7$
and do near 30 linear meter ,and not talk about copper dust
even if milling was reliable it take time and have vaccum cleaner
for dust removal running so big noise on shop for ~8 hour per board
and you not have solder mask ,this become problem Whit QFN ,BGA
so i find that it was time to move to photo process
open possibility to etch solder-past stencil in house
and have Proto pcb whit mask so it may made whit past /reflow
for now seem that my limitation for photo was film printer
and find way to not etch my via ;-)
my target was reliable 6 mil trace/space whit under 2000$ invesment
you boar look nice for hand draft and 20 year old
Best regard
Marc Lalonde
Alphatronique inc.
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Robert" <oceanartscasino@...> wrote:
>
> LPKF is some good stuff I read about,
>
> kinda pricey for me though, about as close to the machine/router as I want to spend (time and $) is a RepRap for plastic parts (I could make my own stand offs for mounting boards).
>
> I figure the photo process has a chance for much finer detail (with the right set up) and there's no need to convert files for milling (drilling though I guess the LPKF would come in handy).
>
> anything would be an improvement for for me considering my antiquated and tedious mostly manual hand tracing/scribing etch pen and carbon paper technique.
>
> one thing about it though, when you put that much work into a board it really becomes a thing of pride. several boards like that I made from the August 1980 Radio-Electronics 11 part/month construction article series "Build Your Own Robot For Under $400" or Unicorn-1 Robot as it was titled within the article's text. the first few sections of the series are on scribd here:
>
> http://www.scribd.com/doc/3231860/Unicorn1-Robot-Articles-in-Radio-Electronics-
>
> another link with lots of photos here:
>
> http://www.theoldrobots.com/Unicorn.html
>
>
> the most challenging board I remember was a double sided DTMF decoder circuit with 8 trimmer pots for tuning the frequencies of the 16 tones. the circuit was then connected to a simple fm receiver for 16 different on-off controls, a pair could be combined to have forward/reverse switching for the 12v Dc motors. pretty basic and the FCC has changed the rules since the article was originally published regarding the fm frequency used (just change to a legal public use frequency), but the DTMF decoder is still one heck of a nice circuit because of the old analog trimmer pots! you can tune the MF custom for almost no chance of interference (at least from stray wandering DTMF tones, however unlikely). this board was finished and all the parts soldered (with sockets for all ICs, I still have to buy the chips, hopefully I can find) some 25 or more years ago:
>
> http://casino13.deviantart.com/art/DTMF-decoder-pc-board-102262741
>
> sorry about the poor focus (I really need a tripod), and the photo was taken after so many years so the board traces show a little tarnish (along with dust particles on the components), I really should desolder everything and clean the board with a scotch pad and maybe think about trying to make some kind of simple plating bath.
>
> anyway I'm a little exited this evening because I just took delivery of a Motorola R1150E Code Synthesizer II in perfect minty condition!
>
> and was able to download the manual, unit powered on and passed all tests as outlined in the book!
>
> the 1150 can produce just about any tone or combination of tone, custom tones, etc., that can really help when tuning this old board (after 25 years! if I can find the chips, can't remember but I think they're just 555 timers, common, and 7400 logic series, not sure which exactly, misplaced the article but I'll find it at some point.)
>
> I may be slow but I'm not a quitter...
>
> Robby
>
>
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "marc" <mlalonde@> wrote:
> >
> > HI Robby
> >
> > that look really nice
> > think that sublimation printer may have good result
> >
> > even if i have some budget for have just selling all my lpkf equipment
> > not sure that i will buy printer for be fist one to test it ;-)
> >
> >
> > Best regard
> > Marc Lalonde
> > Alphatronique inc.
> >
> > --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Robert" <oceanartscasino@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I thought I saw a recommendation for the Ricoh 7000 somewhere...
> > >
> > > it's around $900 (new)
> > >
> > >
> > > a less expensive and not as fine dpi but Kyocera 1320 looks pretty good, around $400 (new)
> > >
> > >
> > > I haven't tried either of these but looking at the specs I would guess they would do exeptionally well, especially the Ricoh.
> > >
> > >
> > > neither has a built in copier though.
> > >
> > >
> > > Robby
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, michael tenore <wb2lcw@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hi All!
> > > > I once had access to Xerox 4125 laser printer that could lay down very dense traces for toner transfer when the print density was turned up..
> > > > You may well try to find a used one on eBay or Craigs list...
> > > > Regards
> > > > Mike
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ________________________________
> > > > From: Leon Heller <leon355@>
> > > > To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
> > > > Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 8:50 PM
> > > > Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Best Printer for photo process ?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Â
> > > > On 28/12/2011 14:13, marc wrote:
> > > > > HI
> > > > >
> > > > > i made lot of search on the forum
> > > > > and not find clear answer about the best printer
> > > > > for make photo process Transparency ?
> > > > > lot of talk but for toner transfer not photo
> > > > >
> > > > > my laser printer on mg chemical film was not dark egnof
> > > > >
> > > > > i see some epson laser jet whit black-max ink and rip software
> > > > > but i never see any post here about it ?
> > > > >
> > > > > sine i do this for semi professional i have bit of budget
> > > > > but look for cheaper that buy mega-uk photoploter
> > > >
> > > > I get excellent results with an HP 5940 and Mega Electronics Premium
> > > > JetStar film. It's a cheap printer.
> > > >
> > > > Leon
> > > > --
> > > > Leon Heller
> > > > G1HSM
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >
> > >
> >
>