Hi @Eric_LeFort yes, the low cost is attractive, as opposed to modding your 3D printer. I just watched some other methods of etching a PCB. The print and “iron on” looks primitive compared to this. The prospect of adding a laser is also interesting. I wonder, could it be modded to drill the PCB’s as well, with the addition of a spindle? See this Video:- http://youtu.be/uVMme2-srFI?t=12m57s
Spindle for making holes should be possible via flexbile shaft for dremell… but anyway, anybody some comparasion to “traditional” printing to transparent foil and UV light?
I love the idea of a flexible shaft spindle! To really top it off maybe 3d print a dust collector housing that clamped to the spindle and use some 1/2" tubing to a small vacuum unit. That would help keep your desktop free of dust.
TØny Hine, you are a legend! That is just brilliant!
This is the best method I have seen yet for home production of custom PCBs. So simple, so cheap, and yet such good results. I am guessing it costs less than $50 in parts for the whole machine?
I will definitely use this method for my new Arduino projects.
@Paul_Gross well like you hinted at, I would have dismissed the dremel as being too big. But thinking about it, the weight of the Dremel would be an advantage in that it would provide the pressure. The only problem I can foresee is that if you had a lengthy drill bit it could bend and wander of centre. However if you used a very short drill bit, say 5mm, then there would be little chance of this problem. The gentle slowness of the operation also lends itself to accommodating something like a dremel.
Thinking out loud, would the servo be capable of lifting something as heavy as a dremel without spring assistance?
I thought @Dirk_Herrendoerfer creator of this “Direct Ink” PCB CNC Plotter - might like to see this post. A more condensed name? “Direct Ink Plotter” = DIP, or DI Plotter, or DINKP … Any Hash tag wizards out there…?
After thoughts:- PCB DIP, PCB Plotter or CNC Plotter (as it’s not limited to PCB’s).
@Tony_Hine_Nifty_Acce - you ask if the servo would be capable of lifting something as heavy as a dremel without spring assistance?
My thinking out loud:
I guess a servo could do that easily with the right gears to provide a mechanical advantage. How heavy is a dremel? Less than a kilo?
If the dremel bit was short enough, the X-Y steppers, while still powered-up, should provide enough rigidity to stop the dremel bit from wandering. If there is some wandering, you could supply more current to the steppers, or even get a more powerful stepper. You probably already know this: steppers use current just to stay motionless in their set position, and the more current, the more they resist external movement.
I imagine that going down quite slowly is the key to staying straight while drilling through the PCB - again this would be assisted by the same gearing needed to lift the dremel.
Is anybody going to trial a dremel to see what happens?
@Paul_Gross said >>> Is anybody going to trial a dremel to see what happens?<<<
I’m gathering the components at the moment, but they are coming from China so it will be a few weeks before I have everything I need. I’m not sure where to get the brass tube from, so I am using oilite bushes. I’m not very good with electronics so that’s going to be a challenge, putting that lot together.
Hi Alex, yes, I’ve got all the parts. I had problems printing Dirks components, they are very delicate. I also redesigned the “Y” axis to suit as I have some 6mm oilite bushes. I’m having problems with the software, I’m not sure how to load up the multiple Arduino sketches? It took me a while to get the Python code working as I installed python 3 and the code is for python 2.