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PCB direct print to board

PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by iulian_dbc

Hello,

i noticed the struggle for good quality PCB's and i was wondering if
there would be an opportunity to design some sort of print technology
to print our tracks directly onto the PCB board. No UV, no PNP, no
marker. I think i found a way to do this wit available parts and
technology, the only thing i really need to know is if there are
people interested in buying or building such a device.

Basically the "machine" will do the following things

  1. Print of some protective laquer onto the PCB board to delimit
areas to be protected at etching stage.
  2. Print the solder mask onto the board
  3. Print component legend onto the board
  4. optional the machine will have an interchangeable head to allow
drilling of holes into the board.


thank you for all your answers.

iulian

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by Stefan Trethan

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:00:54 -0000, iulian_dbc <iulian_dbc@...>  
wrote:

> lo,
> i noticed the struggle for good quality PCB's and i was wondering if
> there would be an opportunity to design some sort of print technology
> to print our tracks directly onto the PCB board. No UV, no PNP, no
> marker. I think i found a way to do this wit available parts and
> technology, the only thing i really need to know is if there are
> people interested in buying or building such a device.
> Basically the "machine" will do the following things
>  1. Print of some protective laquer onto the PCB board to delimit
> areas to be protected at etching stage.
>   2. Print the solder mask onto the board
>   3. Print component legend onto the board
>   4. optional the machine will have an interchangeable head to allow
> drilling of holes into the board.
> thank you for all your answers.
> iulian

Many have tied, but we were not able to find a working printhead/ink  
combination.
There is a italian company that sells a resist printer however.

I would be highly interested, but i'm not sure i'd buy if it is very  
expensive.

I think there is definitely a market at almost any price.

ST

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by iulian_dbc

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
<stefan_trethan@g...> wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:00:54 -0000, iulian_dbc <iulian_dbc@y...>  
> wrote:
> 
> > lo,
> > i noticed the struggle for good quality PCB's and i was wondering if
> > there would be an opportunity to design some sort of print technology
> > to print our tracks directly onto the PCB board. No UV, no PNP, no
> > marker. I think i found a way to do this wit available parts and
> > technology, the only thing i really need to know is if there are
> > people interested in buying or building such a device.
> > Basically the "machine" will do the following things
> >  1. Print of some protective laquer onto the PCB board to delimit
> > areas to be protected at etching stage.
> >   2. Print the solder mask onto the board
> >   3. Print component legend onto the board
> >   4. optional the machine will have an interchangeable head to allow
> > drilling of holes into the board.
> > thank you for all your answers.
> > iulian
> 
> Many have tied, but we were not able to find a working printhead/ink  
> combination.
> There is a italian company that sells a resist printer however.
> 
> I would be highly interested, but i'm not sure i'd buy if it is very  
> expensive.
> 
> I think there is definitely a market at almost any price.
> 
> ST

OK about the price i think i can make it in two ways:


  1. Printhead only assembly could be around 300-350 USD. It can be
mounted onto any reasonable precision CNC machine (homemade or
industrial but the device is targeted to homemade use :) ) optional
with plans and details regarding the construction of moving table. But
to be honest my first CNC machine was built using plan details
explained in this group and also on turbocnc grup.
  2. The entire system aka Print head and moving table with motors and
pcb fixtures at around 500-600 USD (no PC included).

For both options however the software control of the device is
turbocnc. (which i plan to port to linux OS ) don't laugh please...:)

iulian

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by vattern

Hi 

Why not use BDI EMC instead of trying to port turbocnc ?
Just a question.. :)
Show quoted textHide quoted text
On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:49:55 -0000, iulian_dbc <iulian_dbc@...> wrote:
>  
>  --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
>  <stefan_trethan@g...> wrote:
>  > On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:00:54 -0000, iulian_dbc <iulian_dbc@y...>  
>  > wrote:
>  > 
>  > > lo,
>  > > i noticed the struggle for good quality PCB's and i was wondering if
>  > > there would be an opportunity to design some sort of print technology
>  > > to print our tracks directly onto the PCB board. No UV, no PNP, no
>  > > marker. I think i found a way to do this wit available parts and
>  > > technology, the only thing i really need to know is if there are
>  > > people interested in buying or building such a device.
>  > > Basically the "machine" will do the following things
>  > >  1. Print of some protective laquer onto the PCB board to delimit
>  > > areas to be protected at etching stage.
>  > >   2. Print the solder mask onto the board
>  > >   3. Print component legend onto the board
>  > >   4. optional the machine will have an interchangeable head to allow
>  > > drilling of holes into the board.
>  > > thank you for all your answers.
>  > > iulian
>  > 
>  > Many have tied, but we were not able to find a working printhead/ink  
>  > combination.
>  > There is a italian company that sells a resist printer however.
>  > 
>  > I would be highly interested, but i'm not sure i'd buy if it is very  
>  > expensive.
>  > 
>  > I think there is definitely a market at almost any price.
>  > 
>  > ST
>  
>  OK about the price i think i can make it in two ways:
>  
>  
>    1. Printhead only assembly could be around 300-350 USD. It can be
>  mounted onto any reasonable precision CNC machine (homemade or
>  industrial but the device is targeted to homemade use :) ) optional
>  with plans and details regarding the construction of moving table. But
>  to be honest my first CNC machine was built using plan details
>  explained in this group and also on turbocnc grup.
>    2. The entire system aka Print head and moving table with motors and
>  pcb fixtures at around 500-600 USD (no PC included).
>  
>  For both options however the software control of the device is
>  turbocnc. (which i plan to port to linux OS ) don't laugh please...:)
>  
>  iulian 
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
> 
>  Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Bookmarks and files:
>  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs 
> 
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Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by Zoran A. Scepanovic

Hello iulian_dbc,

  Thursday, February 10, 2005, 9:49:55 AM, you wrote:


i> OK about the price i think i can make it in two ways:


i>   1. Printhead only assembly could be around 300-350 USD. It can be
i> mounted onto any reasonable precision CNC machine (homemade or
i> industrial but the device is targeted to homemade use :) ) optional
i> with plans and details regarding the construction of moving table. But
i> to be honest my first CNC machine was built using plan details
i> explained in this group and also on turbocnc grup.
i>   2. The entire system aka Print head and moving table with motors and
i> pcb fixtures at around 500-600 USD (no PC included).

i> For both options however the software control of the device is
i> turbocnc. (which i plan to port to linux OS ) don't laugh please...:)

i> iulian 

  Do not waste your time porting TurboCNC to Linux platform. There is already a free controller software called EMC (www.linuxcnc.org).

-- 
 Sincerely,
ø¤º°``````````````````````````````````````````````````````°º¤ø
ZAS ElMed                        | mailto:zasto@...
                                 | http://www.zas-elmed.co.yu
                                 | Tel/Fax: +381 11 344-0748
                                 | 
 Zoran A. Scepanovic             |     Mob: +381 63 609-993
º¤ø,¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸,¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸¸,ø¤º

*********
Don't take life too seriously, you won't get out alive.
*********


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by Stefan Trethan

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:49:55 -0000, iulian_dbc <iulian_dbc@...>  
wrote:

>
> OK about the price i think i can make it in two ways:
>  1. Printhead only assembly could be around 300-350 USD. It can be
> mounted onto any reasonable precision CNC machine (homemade or
> industrial but the device is targeted to homemade use  ) optional
> with plans and details regarding the construction of moving table. But
> to be honest my first CNC machine was built using plan details
> explained in this group and also on turbocnc grup.
>   2. The entire system aka Print head and moving table with motors and
> pcb fixtures at around 500-600 USD (no PC included).
> For both options however the software control of the device is
> turbocnc. (which i plan to port to linux OS ) don't laugh please...:)
> iulian


I thik your price would find some buyers, but i would have to think a lot  
about it because i'm always short on money.

What i wonder is how well it really works, considering the trouble we had  
when trying.

I expect you can only disclose limited amount of information, just say if  
you can't tell, i understand.

What sort of printhead do you use? piezo or thermo? commercial product?  
Industrial or consumer?

What sort of ink do you use? solvent based / water based? UV cure? other?

What colors can you print? Can you supply the ink / at what cost? Is the  
ink resistant against chemicals?

Do you have trouble with clogged nozzles? Can we see results?

How many nozzes does your printhead have? What resolution?


ST

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by iulian_dbc

> I thik your price would find some buyers, but i would have to think
a lot  
> about it because i'm always short on money.

OK i understand your point. :) i will work out a model of paying in
small monthly fees around 10-50 USD is this ok?

For the more skilled most probably i will set up a web site with
detailes about construction of the device.

> What i wonder is how well it really works, considering the trouble
we had  
> when trying.

When you said that there is a company already doing soldermask
printing i searched the web and i found several companies doing
soldermask,uv resist and component legend printing so it is achievable.


> I expect you can only disclose limited amount of information, just
say if  
> you can't tell, i understand.
> 
> What sort of printhead do you use? piezo or thermo? commercial
product?  
> Industrial or consumer?
>

Actually you can do it yourself. The idea came from some devices used
in industrial enviorements. I saw some devices like that and i think
they can be adapted to our needs. I saw several thesis about printing
onto special materials like glass and metal.

so the printhead will probably be piezo. Therm cannot work due to the
fact that the ink vaporization is a critical problem and the ink
viscosity is high. Being a solvent based ink the thermal is out of the
question.

> What sort of ink do you use? solvent based / water based? UV cure?
other?
> 
> What colors can you print? Can you supply the ink / at what cost? Is
the  
> ink resistant against chemicals?

when the tests will start i will put the pictures along with the ink
composition onto the web site. So anybody who want's to use the print
head to be able to make his/her own ink. Of course i can supply the
ink if this is what you want...

> Do you have trouble with clogged nozzles? Can we see results?

Clogged nozzles are still a concern. I am trying to figure out a way
of stopping solvent evaporation and deposit in print head. For the
long term idle states like changing boards and overnight shutdown i
pulled up a way of cleaning the print head by replacing the working
ink with a cleaning fluid. So if you have long term idle states the
print head wil sense that and automatically will replace the ink with
the cleaning fluid. This of course will give some delay in startup but
 i think that you can live with that.

> How many nozzes does your printhead have? What resolution?
well ... the tubing for the nozzled did not arrived yet so i dont know
what resolution i can achieve and this is highly depending on ink.

will keep you posted. i am building now the site and the device as we
speak so please be patient.


iulian

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by gettingalongwouldbenice

I'm gonna make a prediction.
If you're setting up a continuous run process, there may be a lot
of options.
For those of us who want to make a board once a month, there are a
number of issues.
Given the smallness of the print head holes and the etch resistness
of the ink, I expect there won't be a printable resist with the
shelf life that we low volume users need.

I predict that a workable low volume solution will require a two-part
resist.  You slather part one on the board.  Then you print the
pattern with part two.  I expect one might find a low viscocity
printable fluid that reacts with the other part on the board.

It's very much like photo printing except.
You're just using printed patterns rather than light.
IN fact, i wonder if you couldn't just start experimenting with photosensitive
boards and print the pattern in developer.  That shows you how much I (don't) know about photography.

I've toyed with the possibility of printing an electroless plating
solution that resists the etch.

IIRC, early TEK boards were copper plated with more copper then nickel then plated with gold.  The gold resisted the etch.  But maybe I don't
know what I'm talking about.
mike

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "iulian_dbc" <iulian_dbc@y...> wrote:
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> 
> Hello,
> 
> i noticed the struggle for good quality PCB's and i was wondering if
> there would be an opportunity to design some sort of print technology
> to print our tracks directly onto the PCB board. No UV, no PNP, no
> marker. I think i found a way to do this wit available parts and
> technology, the only thing i really need to know is if there are
> people interested in buying or building such a device.
> 
> Basically the "machine" will do the following things
> 
>   1. Print of some protective laquer onto the PCB board to delimit
> areas to be protected at etching stage.
>   2. Print the solder mask onto the board
>   3. Print component legend onto the board
>   4. optional the machine will have an interchangeable head to allow
> drilling of holes into the board.
> 
> 
> thank you for all your answers.
> 
> iulian

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by iulian_dbc

>   Do not waste your time porting TurboCNC to Linux platform. There
is already a free controller software called EMC (www.linuxcnc.org).
> 

Yeah shure... i will try to write all the acompanying drivers to
different CNC controller packages in order to enable thair users to
use my device. Th porting of turbocnc to linux is an adiotional goal.
Call me stupid but i used that software and i found it very nice,
usefull, and i like it. So being a linux programmer (among other
things) i want to be able to use turbocnc from linux enviorement. Call
me crazy but this is what i want to do...


iulian

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by iulian_dbc

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "gettingalongwouldbenice"
<gettingalongwouldbenice@y...> wrote:
> 
> I'm gonna make a prediction.
> If you're setting up a continuous run process, there may be a lot
> of options.
> For those of us who want to make a board once a month, there are a
> number of issues.
> Given the smallness of the print head holes and the etch resistness
> of the ink, I expect there won't be a printable resist with the
> shelf life that we low volume users need.
>
Well actually the device is more targeted to the ed user rather than a
 continuos process. The basic idea is that the end user will use the
device most like his own printer. There are out there on the market
inks that resist to corrosion of FeCl. this is one of the issues. The
second one pointed out by somebody else is the clogging and ink drying
in print head. I adressed that and i will test it for long term idle
states. Thank you for the ideas printing on resist... it can be an
option actually you can pull that out by using your favorite photo
cartridge ink which has an ink compoonent specially designed for UV
protection. So if you can print in photocolor on your PCB you are done.





> I predict that a workable low volume solution will require a two-part
> resist.  You slather part one on the board.  Then you print the
> pattern with part two.  I expect one might find a low viscocity
> printable fluid that reacts with the other part on the board.
> 
> It's very much like photo printing except.
> You're just using printed patterns rather than light.
> IN fact, i wonder if you couldn't just start experimenting with
photosensitive
> boards and print the pattern in developer.  That shows you how much
I (don't) know about photography.
> 
> I've toyed with the possibility of printing an electroless plating
> solution that resists the etch.
> 
> IIRC, early TEK boards were copper plated with more copper then
nickel then plated with gold.  The gold resisted the etch.  But maybe
I don't
> know what I'm talking about.
> mike
> 
thank you again mike.


iulian

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by Stefan Trethan

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 10:55:52 -0000, iulian_dbc <iulian_dbc@...>  
wrote:

>
>
>> I thik your price would find some buyers, but i would have to think
> a lot
>> about it because i'm always short on money.
> OK i understand your point.  i will work out a model of paying in
> small monthly fees around 10-50 USD is this ok?

No, i don't believe in that, or debt for that matter.
Either i can afford it, or can't. If i can't i must either wait until i  
have the money or not buy it.

> For the more skilled most probably i will set up a web site with
> detailes about construction of the device.
>

Of course i'd love to see that.

>> What i wonder is how well it really works, considering the trouble
> we had
>> when trying.
> When you said that there is a company already doing soldermask
> printing i searched the web and i found several companies doing
> soldermask,uv resist and component legend printing so it is achievable.
>

Bt too hard without the industrial backing we didn't have.


>> I expect you can only disclose limited amount of information, just
> say if
>> you can't tell, i understand.
>>
>> What sort of printhead do you use? piezo or thermo? commercial
> product?
>> Industrial or consumer?
>>

> Actually you can do it yourself. The idea came from some devices used
> in industrial enviorements. I saw some devices like that and i think
> they can be adapted to our needs. I saw several thesis about printing
> onto special materials like glass and metal.
> so the printhead will probably be piezo. Therm cannot work due to the
> fact that the ink vaporization is a critical problem and the ink
> viscosity is high. Being a solvent based ink the thermal is out of the
> question.
>

I see, we had considered those printheads but none seemed cheap enough  
back then, not knowing if it would work.

>> What sort of ink do you use? solvent based / water based? UV cure?
> other?
>>
>> What colors can you print? Can you supply the ink / at what cost? Is
> the
>> ink resistant against chemicals?

> when the tests will start i will put the pictures along with the ink
> composition onto the web site. So anybody who want's to use the print
> head to be able to make his/her own ink. Of course i can supply the
> ink if this is what you want...
>

I guess surely some would buy ink. If it works with consumer-level piezo  
heads (like in epson printers) i'd certainly buy some.

>> Do you have trouble with clogged nozzles? Can we see results?

> Clogged nozzles are still a concern. I am trying to figure out a way
> of stopping solvent evaporation and deposit in print head. For the
> long term idle states like changing boards and overnight shutdown i
> pulled up a way of cleaning the print head by replacing the working
> ink with a cleaning fluid. So if you have long term idle states the
> print head wil sense that and automatically will replace the ink with
> the cleaning fluid. This of course will give some delay in startup but
>  i think that you can live with that.

That was suggested back then, yes. maybe even something simple as a wet  
sponge could prevent short-term clogging and clean the head.

>
>> How many nozzes does your printhead have? What resolution?
> well ... the tubing for the nozzled did not arrived yet so i dont know
> what resolution i can achieve and this is highly depending on ink.
> will keep you posted. i am building now the site and the device as we
> speak so please be patient.

Ok, please let s know when things change.

ST

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by javaguy11111

It almost sounds like something along the lines of this--

<http://www.slac.stanford.edu/exp/mps/FCS/FCS_drop.htm>

If you had access to some glassblowing equipement it would 
be possible to build something as is mentioned above. You would 
also need the appropriate piezoelectric element.

I have found a few designs like this used in a university environment,
but descriptions are few and far between.

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by iulian_dbc

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "javaguy11111"
<javaguy11111@y...> wrote:
> 
> It almost sounds like something along the lines of this--
> 
> <http://www.slac.stanford.edu/exp/mps/FCS/FCS_drop.htm>
> 
> If you had access to some glassblowing equipement it would 
> be possible to build something as is mentioned above. You would 
> also need the appropriate piezoelectric element.
> 
> I have found a few designs like this used in a university environment,
> but descriptions are few and far between.

Ok this in fact along with other designs are the foundations of my
print head . I also found the design you showed and others
experimented by MIT and published in several scientific publications.

Unfortunately i do not have access to that technology in Romania :((

Thank You

iulian

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by iulian_dbc

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, vattern <vattern@g...> wrote:
> 
> Hi 
> 
> Why not use BDI EMC instead of trying to port turbocnc ?
> Just a question.. :)
> 
> 
>
Just downloaded it 

Work in progress...

:)))

iulian

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by javaguy11111

I have thought about something along the lines you are describing.
There is a glassblower in my area that will be offering flameworking
classes in the near future. I plan on taking that class and hopefully
gain more knowledge about the technique. 

However in the  most basic form I would not think it would take much
more equipment than would found in a chemistry class. It should not be
that hard to draw a pippette from a piece of tubing to form a nozzile.
Finding a ring piezo element might be the bigger challenge. Though I
seem to recall some designs that use a flat piezo element. 

There is a company that has a rather interesting application for
ejecting solder droplets to produce solder balls on chip scale
packages.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "iulian_dbc" <iulian_dbc@y...>
wrote:
> 
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "javaguy11111"
> <javaguy11111@y...> wrote:
> > 
> > It almost sounds like something along the lines of this--
> > 
> > <http://www.slac.stanford.edu/exp/mps/FCS/FCS_drop.htm>
> > 
> > If you had access to some glassblowing equipement it would 
> > be possible to build something as is mentioned above. You would 
> > also need the appropriate piezoelectric element.
> > 
> > I have found a few designs like this used in a university
environment,
> > but descriptions are few and far between.
> 
> Ok this in fact along with other designs are the foundations of my
> print head . I also found the design you showed and others
> experimented by MIT and published in several scientific
publications.
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> 
> Unfortunately i do not have access to that technology in Romania :((
> 
> Thank You
> 
> iulian

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by ralucas4277

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Cristian <bip@f...> wrote:
> 
> >if there are
> >people interested in buying or building such a device.

I am also very interested.  However, I think the biggest problem will 
be manufacturing the knife edged orifice, and I am not sure that 
glassware is needed, solvent stuck rigid plastics container to piezo 
element should suffice.

Roger

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-10 by Ed Okerson

>
>  >   Do not waste your time porting TurboCNC to Linux platform. There
>  is already a free controller software called EMC (www.linuxcnc.org).
>  >
>
>  Yeah shure... i will try to write all the acompanying drivers to
>  different CNC controller packages in order to enable thair users to
>  use my device. Th porting of turbocnc to linux is an adiotional goal.
>  Call me stupid but i used that software and i found it very nice,
>  usefull, and i like it. So being a linux programmer (among other
>  things) i want to be able to use turbocnc from linux enviorement. Call
>  me crazy but this is what i want to do...

Does TurboCNC do tool path planning?  I currently have a machine with EMC
on it, it does not do any path planning.  EMC, as near as I can tell, only
interprets g-code and runs the steppers.  The g-code must be generated by
another program that does everything else.  I have not found a Linux
program that does everything.  It would be nice to have something that
could read the dxf files and run the machine from it.

Ed

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-11 by Iulian Demetrescu

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "javaguy11111"
<javaguy11111@y...> wrote:
> 
> I have thought about something along the lines you are describing.
> There is a glassblower in my area that will be offering flameworking
> classes in the near future. I plan on taking that class and hopefully
> gain more knowledge about the technique. 
> 
> However in the  most basic form I would not think it would take much
> more equipment than would found in a chemistry class. It should not be
> that hard to draw a pippette from a piece of tubing to form a nozzile.
> Finding a ring piezo element might be the bigger challenge. Though I
> seem to recall some designs that use a flat piezo element. 

here you are right. i am currently experimenting with diffrent piezo
elements ready made in the wild. i will post the success stories as
they come along...

> There is a company that has a rather interesting application for
> ejecting solder droplets to produce solder balls on chip scale
> packages.

i saw that too.

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-11 by Iulian Demetrescu

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "ralucas4277" <ralucas4277@y...>
wrote:
> 
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Cristian <bip@f...> wrote:
> > 
> > >if there are
> > >people interested in buying or building such a device.
> 
> I am also very interested.  However, I think the biggest problem will 
> be manufacturing the knife edged orifice, and I am not sure that 
> glassware is needed, solvent stuck rigid plastics container to piezo 
> element should suffice.

well actually there are several ways to do the orifice

 one is drilling it with some technology like drill bits of 0.10 mm or
go to a laser marking company who will drill the hole for you
 another one is the ceramic/crystal approach where there are also
several companies offering specialized orfices in different sizes
going from 60 micrometers to 5 mm (this is the mostly used by
professional devices)
 the third one is to use metalic tubing from medical or other
applications.


iulian

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-11 by Iulian Demetrescu

> Does TurboCNC do tool path planning?  I currently have a machine
with EMC
> on it, it does not do any path planning.  EMC, as near as I can
tell, only
> interprets g-code and runs the steppers.  The g-code must be
generated by
> another program that does everything else.  I have not found a Linux
> program that does everything.  It would be nice to have something that
> could read the dxf files and run the machine from it.
> 
> Ed

Well turbocnc does the same. expects a g-code file as input and does
all the motor control. But i plan to rewrite some parts of it in order
to accept DXF and other formats used. I also plan on doing tool path
planning for turbocnc. 
In fact what i want is to have a CNC control software simillar to the
ones found on windows. 

iulian

Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-11 by ralucas4277

Iulian,

You have obviously got this project planned to a higher level than I 
had anticipated. In theory, I can see no reason why a home brew piezo 
DOD can't be achieved. Re glass pipette drawing, we tried this in the 
early days of ink delivery using a CO2 laser to supply a burst of 
thermal to the ink thru the glass which worked fine. The problem was 
the end of the drawn pipette was always too ragged without a lot of 
cost for consistency in drop formation.

I can't see why a single DOD assembly couldn't be used to lay a 
resist layer direct to pcb. Would just take some time for a largish 
board.

I also use turbocnc so a front end to that would be great.

Looking forward to your developments.

roger


--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Iulian Demetrescu" 
<iulian_dbc@y...> wrote:
> 
> 
> well actually there are several ways to do the orifice
> 
>  one is drilling it with some technology like drill bits of 0.10 mm 
or
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> go to a laser marking company who will drill the hole for you
>  another one is the ceramic/crystal approach where there are also
> several companies offering specialized orfices in different sizes
> going from 60 micrometers to 5 mm (this is the mostly used by
> professional devices)
>  the third one is to use metalic tubing from medical or other
> applications.
> 
> 
> iulian

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: PCB direct print to board

2005-02-11 by vattern

On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 07:36:54 -0000, Iulian Demetrescu
<iulian_dbc@...> wrote:
>  
>  
>  > Does TurboCNC do tool path planning?  I currently have a machine
>  with EMC
>  > on it, it does not do any path planning.  EMC, as near as I can
>  tell, only
>  > interprets g-code and runs the steppers.  The g-code must be
>  generated by
>  > another program that does everything else.  I have not found a Linux
>  > program that does everything.  It would be nice to have something that
>  > could read the dxf files and run the machine from it.
>  > 
>  > Ed
>  
>  Well turbocnc does the same. expects a g-code file as input and does
>  all the motor control. But i plan to rewrite some parts of it in order
>  to accept DXF and other formats used. I also plan on doing tool path
>  planning for turbocnc. 
>  In fact what i want is to have a CNC control software simillar to the
>  ones found on windows. 
>  
>  iulian
>  


Take a look at the stuff that ribbonsoft does. Qcad can be compiled
from source to do dxf and the camexpert demo can generate gcode (I
think) from the dxf ..YMMV


Thys

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