Make PCBoards on CNC

Z

zaker

Member
I have access to a small CNC mill at school, and was wondering how those of you that do this, would point me in a direction to accomplish this. I have seen Eagle with an add on that will make the Gcode, but was wondering how you do it.

Thanks for any info!
 
Just throwing this out there for you folks that have CNC PCB manufacturing ability - - people will pay you to make protos for them... just sayin'... For onesie twosies it's probably cheaper than a board house...
 
My main question is what software might work best. We have the mill working, I just need the gcode. I'm playing with Eagle right now and will see how that works out. at least I know someone here is doing it, so when I get stuck, I know where to go!!
 
look for the pcbgcode ulp.
it plugs directly into eagle.

The latest version even has a self leveling routine built in.
Don't think that part works wit turbocnc though.

Joel
 
So what's a good cheap mill to consider? I've been thinking of constructing my own, but time is not on my side as I'm now 60+ years old, and money seems to go for health expenses now instead of toys. And besides, there's a lot of "figuring" to do when building your own and I'd hate to miscalculate something. For now, I've got a couple of steppers that may or may not be forceful enough.

Gosh, this hobby is expensive!
 
After milling, do you cover all the tracks with solder?
PCB material is usually 1 oz thick, unless it is copper plated to 2oz?

Well, at least at my former work place they used to copper plate the boards for a thicker layer and then tin-lead plate it after that. Now lead is out so another material may have taken its place.
 
I just used 1oz copper for those.
I had some Tin It. Two packages of powder you mix with water and place your boards in for 20 minutes to give them a shiney coating.

Did not notice any difference in solder ability.

Joel
 
Hot dang it worked! We didn't have any small v bits, but had a larger one used for engraving. Cut a board I had made in Eagle on a scrap piece of plexiglass. Looked good except some of the thinner traces were almost gone because of the size of the bit, but it worked on our mill.
Get some small bits and I'm in good to go!
 
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