Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

----- Original Message -----
From: "Justin" <jcom10@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2004 12:27 PM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] could this work for PCB milling?


Firstly hello to the group - first time poster here :-)

Currently I produce my own PCB's using the UV/dev/etch method.
(homebrew UV box using insect killer lamps, etch tank is a cereal
container and fish tank pump)
This works well but is messy and time consuming (at least it is when I
do it!).

I would prefer a CNC milling solution and having searched around,
found what looks to be a promising 'off the shelf' solution:
http://www.milinst.com/robotics/robotics.htm#axis. At £189 for the kit
it would seem quite affordable, but is it up to the job?

I don't know much about this sort of thing, so wondered if anyone
could speculate on its suitability for prototype PCB work.

No, it isn't. It'll cope with light engraving, as they say, but it just
isn't fast or robust enough for PCB milling. You'd need something like a
CNC-controlled Taig mill - a lot more expensive.

Another problem with milling PCBs is that it is quite slow. Have a look at
the LPKF machines; they are state of the art for this type of prototyping
and take a couple of hours or more to produce a board.

Leon
--
Leon Heller, G1HSM
Email: aqzf13@...
My low-cost Philips LPC210x ARM development system:
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller/lpc2104.html