cogoman wrote: > On 08/06/2012 09:49 PM, Jon Elson wrote: > >> I make my own stencils for these. It is kind of a pain, but I'm CHEAP! >> > How about the cheapest CNC to build, an XY plotter like this: > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyLPpGdfR7s > > but with the laser from an old DVD burner for the pen. You could > produce plotter output files and convert them to G-code, and then cut > them out of thin plastic (just shield your eyes while it runs, or box it in. > > Getting the tool set in line would take some time, but once you get > the hang of it, it would save time in the long run. > Well, I don't know. My laser photoplotter produces 0.6 inch per minute of scan, so an 8 x 8" plot can be produced in 13 minutes. This then is used to expose the resist on the shim stock, and etched in the spray etcher. It sounds like a lot, and most of the time is spent on setup and cleanup. If I do a lot of stencils at one time, it is actually pretty efficient. The burning of plastic stencils is not a parallel process, the laser has to burn the perimeter of every aperture. But, it should be a hands-off process, I guess.
An "old DVD" laser won't burn anything but maybe your retina. The newer blu-ray lasers are powerful enough to burn some materials, but they have to absorb energy at that wavelength. There are new blue lasers with really high power available for a couple hundred $. I wrote the program to convert Gerber files to raster, so making it do the perimeter of apertures doesn't sound hard. But, this equipment already works and I have the process tuned up quite well. Jon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
