On Sunday 08 April 2018 04:23:23 Chris Albertson wrote: > The kind of PCB I want to make is simple. Many complex parts can be > bought on ebay as "breakout boards". I want to use these breakout > boards as if they were ICs In other words I want to replace my > collection of flying Dupont wires and mini-size solderless breadboards > with 1970 vintage PCBs Just like the guy in the video. > > Thanks for the lead on pcb2gcode. From another list I found out > about "flatCAM". It is open source linux/mac/windows and convert > berbers and excellent files to g-code. see http://flatcam.org I > have only looked at it for about 20 minutes. I will look at > pcb2gcode too. thanks > > I've known about eagle and cicada for a long time. What happened is > KiCAD picked up funding from CERN and with a paid staff progress was > fast. I've decided to move from Eagle too even if I am a big user of > Fusion 360. > > What tools are used? I mean the cutting tools. Can I use "normal" > milling machine spindle RPMs or is a 20,000 RPM router needed? The > end mill in the video looks microscopic. > I don't have a high speed spindle, 2500 revs is wide open on the micro-mill, it works as well but feed rates are obviously slow, about 2.5 ipm IIRC. So the whole job is slow. 2 copies of a simple DS board is about a 10 hour day. Worse than watching paint dry.
> On Sat, Apr 7, 2018 at 11:00 PM, Lawrence Glaister <ve...@shaw.ca> wrote: > > Hi Chris, > > > > For the PCB milling, I used to use eagle and the pcbgcode plugin for > > the longest time. Eagle got kind of funky after autocad bought them > > and is now mostly a subscription service. > > > > I now use kicad for the schematic and pcb design and an open source > > program called pcb2gcode to convert gerbers to gcode files for > > linuxcnc. I just completed a board I sent off to > > https://www.seeedstudio.com/fu sion.html for production. Smooth as > > silk and unbeatable prices. (10 boards 3.8x2.5" for $4.41(March > > Sale) + shipping). > > > > I then designed and milled a small board for a calibration jig and > > used the pcb2gcode to convert the bottom copper gerber to linuxcnc > > gcode files. Again, pretty smooth once one gets the isolation and > > offset parameters figured out. > > > > I think kicad is a much superior package to eagle and has no > > restrictions on boards size or schematic size. As with learning a > > new cad system, it took a couple of youtube videos and a couple of > > days of practice, but it really only took a few days to go from > > nothing to ordering pcbs. Well worth the investment in time. The > > current kicad V4 release worked the best for me.... I tried V5 from > > git, but it wasnt quite workable yet. The advantage of V5 is that it > > will be able to import eagle project schematic and PCB files. > > > > I have done quite a few PCBs by milling, and there are a few tricks > > like using wider traces and trying to keep most surface mount parts > > and traces on the bottom layer and use the top layer for jumpers and > > through hole parts to avoid 2 sided milling. One sided pcbs are much > > less critical to mill as they are milled, drilled and cutout without > > changing the mounting. This avoids a lot of headaches of trying to > > get top and bottom layers aligned. > > > > cheers > > Lawrence Glaister VE7IT > > Nanoose Bay BC, Canada > > > > On 2018-04-07 10:05 PM, Chris Albertson wrote: > >> Is anyone using a CNC mill to make PCBs? The video linked below > >> shows someone doing this on a small mill with Mach 3. The PCB is > >> certainly not high tech. The parts are all through hole with 0.1 > >> inch lead pitch and it is one side only. Right out of the 1970's > >> but it is exactly what I want to > >> make. More complex PCBs can go to oshpark > >> > >> Is there a Linux based tool chain? The part I don't see is how to > >> convert > >> Gerber files to g-code files. > >> > >> Then what tools work best? I think three are needed tiny end mill > >> to route > >> copper, Tiny spiral mill for cutting the PCB all the way through > >> and a few micro side drill bits for the through holes. > >> > >> BTW it seems like the guy in the video could have saved a lot of > >> time by using a (fake) ground plane that flooded all the empty > >> space. No need to mill all that copper away. > >> > >> https://youtu.be/xM8sTEw3OLQ?t=5m41s -- Cheers, Gene Heskett -- "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
