Author Topic: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind  (Read 27643 times)

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Offline MacAttakTopic starter

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Re: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind
« Reply #25 on: September 01, 2013, 12:39:32 am »
I can photoetch a board in a fraction of the time/cost of a miller and can do boards up to A3 size (although have never gone that big, nearly A4 size is the biggest I've done). Can also do double sided (although not thru plated as yet) it doesn't even have to be a messy process (milling isn't exactly clean given the dust produced) and I could make a HELL of a lot of boards with the $1000 for a tiny PCB mill.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23129101@N00/sets/72157623875853916/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23129101@N00/sets/72157623874786792/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23129101@N00/sets/72157625931640050/

Note I have an updated etch tank (glass tank from IKEA since these photos were taken), The vacuum pulldown UV box took a day to make and cost about £100 in parts.

I really don't understand the obsession on the web with PCB milling when there are far better, quicker, cheaper methods.

Martin.

Wow, that toaster oven has seen a few too many Hot Pockets :)
 

Offline jaxbird

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Re: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind
« Reply #26 on: September 01, 2013, 01:13:36 am »
I used to etch my DIY boards, but after building a decent CNC a few years ago, I will never go back to etching.

Sure it's not all clean and the dust is not healthy at all, but I got mine enclosed in a box with an acrylic window.

For mounting, I use a scrap piece of wood on the bed that I plane once a month or so, then simply double sided tape to hold the board in place during milling and drilling.

Only takes like 20-30 minutes for a medium sized board from start until finish with holes and everything.

I don't remove all the copper, just enough to make sure there are no shorts and it's easy to solder.

Like this one:



Sure the cost of a decent setup would pay for a lot of manufactured boards, but the convenience of just doing a quick layout and having something you can start soldering within an hour is very nice.

I am however not convinced the advertised "Othermill" machine will work very well, also it seems very expensive for that size and materials.



Analog Discovery Projects: http://www.thestuffmade.com
Youtube random project videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheStuffMade
 

Offline Arp

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Re: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind
« Reply #27 on: September 07, 2013, 02:28:14 pm »
Have you tried those tiny packages like 0.4mm ptich TQFPs?
 

Offline PlainName

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Re: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind
« Reply #28 on: September 07, 2013, 04:24:11 pm »
This was a successful prototype for a LGA-14 (0.8mm pitch) package. It would be tricky to go smaller, I reckon.

 

Offline dr.diesel

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Re: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind
« Reply #29 on: March 06, 2014, 01:57:11 pm »
You can now pre-order these outside of kickstarter.  I had considered one for quick small jobs, however, looks like they've raised the price, currently $2200.

http://store.othermachine.co/products/othermill

Oh well, guess the search is still on.


Offline Harvs

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Re: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind
« Reply #30 on: March 12, 2014, 11:23:47 pm »
You can now pre-order these outside of kickstarter.  I had considered one for quick small jobs, however, looks like they've raised the price, currently $2200.

http://store.othermachine.co/products/othermill

Oh well, guess the search is still on.

The 6040 mill that GeoffS linked to above is $1.5k and looks a lot more sturdy and useful to me.
 

Offline tsimon

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Re: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind
« Reply #31 on: January 26, 2015, 10:20:22 pm »
Just thought I'd add some information on the OtherMill. [Disclosure - I bought one through Kickstarter, and liked it so much that I do some consulting for them now.]

I wrote up a post that shows how I made one of my projects with the machine I bought. Here is the link:
https://medium.com/@tomsimon/lipo-charger-board-for-the-arduino-nano-39e709f459bc

I have done larger projects including things with cut-outs for 10W LEDs, or weird shapes and various connectors, such as micro USB.

Thanks
-Tom
 

Offline jimon

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Re: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind
« Reply #32 on: January 26, 2015, 10:33:25 pm »
I wrote up a post that shows how I made one of my projects with the machine I bought. Here is the link:
https://medium.com/@tomsimon/lipo-charger-board-for-the-arduino-nano-39e709f459bc

Stencil for this board ? srlsy ? Or is it just to show capabilities of CNC machine ? :)
 

Offline tsimon

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Re: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind
« Reply #33 on: January 26, 2015, 11:12:27 pm »
I know it seems a bit much, but I show it in my write up mostly to demonstrate the technique. I found it much easier than using a toothpick to apply solder paste. Once I made my first stencil there was no going back for me. Now I just do it as a matter of course. It does not take much to make the stencil - maybe 15 minutes total time spent. For my projects, mostly LED things, I make about 4 to 10 of them, so it is well worth the time to make a stencil.
 

Offline PlainName

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Re: Othermill: CNC mill designed with DIY PCB fabrication in mind
« Reply #34 on: January 27, 2015, 12:37:42 am »
Quote
I wrote up a post ...

If I didn't already do this I'd want to do it after reading that :)

As for the stenciil, if it's no trouble then why the hell not. Nice job  :-+
 


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