Hello,
I wanted to buy a CNC milling Machine to cut aluminium and PCBs, but then I asked myself why not to use the 3D printer for both printing and milling.
I made today my first test (a few holes in Epoxy) an I’m very satisfied. Next step will be to engrave the PCB an cut different materials, like aluminium (thickness 3mm). If I slow the process down enough an make enough layers, it shouldn’t be a problem (I hope so).
My main problem was to find a good software to convert the Excellon file to G-Code, and in fact, after having tried a few, I didn’t find the one I wanted, so I made one myself. If somebody needs it, just tell me.
Bonjour,
j’avais l’intention de m’acheter une fraise CNC pour couper de l’aluminium et des circuits imprimés, mais je me suis ensuite demandé pourquoi ne pas utiliser mon imprimante 3D.
J’ai fait mon premier essai aujourd’hui (quelques trous dans de l’Epoxy) et je suis très satisfait. La prochaine étape sera de graver le circuit et de couper différents matériaux, comme l’aluminium (épaisseur 3mm).
Si je ralentis assez le fraisage et fait assez de couches, il ne devrait pas y avoir de problèmes (j’espère).
Le plus gros soucis a été de trouver un bon logiciel pour convertir le fichier Excellon en G-Code, et en effet, après en avoir essayé quelques-uns, je n’en ai pas trouvé qui me convienne, j’en ai donc crée un moi-même. Si quelqu’un en a besoin, qu’il fasse signe.
Hi,
I am getting great results on PCB cutting by using a depth control slider. This controls the depth of milling bit cut relative to the copper surface instead of relative to the baseplate depth.
You might wish to take a look at this mount which has a vent channel for a vacuum cleaner. This allows you to suck the PCB dust away before it becomes a problem (in your lungs!)
Nice work, but I don’t know if I need one for PCB because my printer is hermetically enclosed. But I think I’ll make one for aluminium milling. Thx
Concerning the control slider, I also cut relative to copper surface, but using a G-Code. “G92 X0 Y0 Z0” will set the current position to home position. It also works with other positions (eg G92 X10 Y20 Z30). The negative aspect is that you have to take care not to cross the limit relative to the real home axis.
Eg If you’re position is X10 and you set G92 X0, it won’t stop at X190 (real: X200), but at X200 (real: X210), which is out of the machine, so I’s better to put a security system which takes the value of the current of each step motor and breaks off the Printer if the current is too high.