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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Poor mans desktop mill 30x30x30cm for 150€
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| dddns Senior Member  Joined: 20/09/2024 Location: GermanyPosts: 150 |
Hello All! As every transistor or screw goes off my mouth I love this hobby so much that there is usually some kind of solution. In this case it meant for me to spend time not necessarily money. Have fun      Edited 2025-02-28 21:34 by dddns |
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Mixtel90 Guru  Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7339 |
That's brilliant! It would still have been brilliant at twice the price! Well done. :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| dddns Senior Member Joined: 20/09/2024 Location: GermanyPosts: 150 |
Thank you :) I posted this because of the spripboard issue ;) |
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Revlac Guru Joined: 31/12/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1088 |
Well done  I like this sort of thing.You will probably add more to it later, just for fun.  Cheers Aaron Off The Grid |
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| dddns Senior Member Joined: 20/09/2024 Location: GermanyPosts: 150 |
I don't want to be intrusive, hope I got you right        |
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stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2375 |
I got 2 anet A8 3d printers and a "dremel". Hmmmmm? could I do that? does it drill the holes to? Looks tidy, impressed. what software you using? Edited 2025-03-01 02:10 by stanleyella |
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| dddns Senior Member Joined: 20/09/2024 Location: GermanyPosts: 150 |
yes you can! :)) My first tries were, to pimp my selfmade 3D printer. I simply mounted a 1,50€ motor with a barring.It works! Attached is a result done with this solution. And yes, you can decide from which side, but drilling is essential that it is done by the mill. But doing that with Marlin is a pain.. So I decided to have a dedicated mill with GRBL.    Edited 2025-03-01 02:28 by dddns |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2375 |
I usually use Cura for 3d printing. I think my 3d printers use Marlin, the "catches fire" version.. it seems 1.9 is availiable which turns on safty to stop thermal runaway but got lots hassle with usb to ttl to pins on controller socket via molex. then reflash new version over version 1 with safety off. |
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jwettroth Regular Member  Joined: 02/08/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 75 |
Beautiful. I have a couple of CNC routers and mills and an LPKF PCB grinder. Your boards actually look better than the LPKF- very good. Be really careful with the dust from fiberglass cutting- it makes and aerosolizes tiny glass fibers that are terrible for your lungs. Its not the dust that you can see, it is invisible stuff that kills you. The LPKF has a full time vacuum that leads to a very fine HEPA filter. Nice work. I like that you have bulk and stiffness where required. John Wettroth |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2375 |
I searched "convert 3d printer to pcb cnc router" and seems not good idea. milling routers are not cheap, laser ones are cheaper and seem to "route" pcb. what you think about laser routers? |
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| dddns Senior Member Joined: 20/09/2024 Location: GermanyPosts: 150 |
AFAIK it's not possible at home, to evaporate copper. Very high energy consumption and very difficult to fulfill requirements. |
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| dddns Senior Member Joined: 20/09/2024 Location: GermanyPosts: 150 |
Thank you for the hint! Never paid attention to.. Apropos vacuum :) I plan to build a small vacuum tension plate with help of my vacuum cleaner :)) |
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| William Leue Guru Joined: 03/07/2020 Location: United StatesPosts: 402 |
Brilliant! I have a real machinist's mill (and metal lathe) so I won't be building this but I do admire it. I have yet to try milling a PCB with my mill but it's an interesting idea. -Bill |
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| dddns Senior Member Joined: 20/09/2024 Location: GermanyPosts: 150 |
Thanks.This was build in my single room apartment. If I would have the opportunity I really would like to build it at least out of Aluminum and the frame out of steel. I searched the market, but there is nothing under 1000€ which is worth to buy. You can buy, but it will be garbage for like 300€. |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2375 |
@dddns it was a stimulating post, got me thinking lots. don't think my mains dremel would fit to 3d printer even if I made a bracket, too heavy. I did have a Mach 3 board and software. all new so investigating. |
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phil99 Guru Joined: 11/02/2018 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2374 |
For home laser engravers the usual method is to coat the PCB with a thin film of black spray paint** then engrave that. Etch the PCB in the usual way. ** First scrub it perfectly clean or the later etching may be patchy. Edited 2025-03-03 06:36 by phil99 |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4721 |
Phil, Have you actually tried that (make it work with paint?). Maybe I had the wrong paint, but in my case the paint that was hit with laser changed into hard coal, and could not easily be removed. For me the laser engraver was a waste of money (though it was fun to build), and upgrade to better accuracy. And I think it is not rigid enough to change it into an engraver. Volhout P.S. It also tried the laser printer transfer method, and also failed. Hence I am making sea of holes PCB's manually. And since through hole is vanishing, I think JLC is my only left option. Edited 2025-03-03 18:13 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| dddns Senior Member Joined: 20/09/2024 Location: GermanyPosts: 150 |
I think it is possible, to do the exposition with a laser and then develop and etch. One big advantage of milling is to drill the wholes in the same clamping. Some hundred wholes are no fun to drill by hand and hard to align and center. |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7339 |
I love this mill. :) Edited 2025-03-03 18:42 by Mixtel90 Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| phil99 Guru Joined: 11/02/2018 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2374 |
No, I don't have a laser engraver. Silicon Chip did an article about it a couple of years ago. The paint they used gave good results. Maybe the paint needs to be one that uses dye for colour rather than metal oxide pigment. Or perhaps the speed needs to be low enough to to burn the paint away completely. On the Instructables website they used a latex based ink. |
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