Fellow LPKF equipment users?

[mk_]

Any ideas how to solve this? I guess question is how to convert Gerber files into LMD/LPR/HPGL format, even with CircuitCAM and Board Master process was automated between.

Sorry for the delay - did you solve your problem?

[rsaxvc]

Hi! I'm a Protomat S42 owner, hopefully soon to be operator.

@rodsolder, my machine came second-hand with a few boxes from Think & Tinker's bits, available from Colorado, USA, at https://www.precisebits.com/ . I haven't gotten my machine up so can't vouch for them, but they are cheaper than LPKF bits.

[rsaxvc]

I've noticed the local harbor freight tools carries 20-pack of what appear to be compatible 38mm carbide drill bits, up to 1.1mm diameter, $7. No testing yet.

[Jay_Diddy_B]

Hi! I'm a Protomat S42 owner, hopefully soon to be operator.

@rodsolder, my machine came second-hand with a few boxes from Think & Tinker's bits, available from Colorado, USA, at https://www.precisebits.com/ . I haven't gotten my machine up so can't vouch for them, but they are cheaper than LPKF bits.

I have been using these bits for the last 10 years in my protomat c60. They are great. Highly recommended.

The c60 doesn't use the depth collars so the bits have to be the correct length. Some of the low cost bits I have bought from eBay have been the wrong length.


Regards,

Jay_Diddy_B

[rsaxvc]

Thanks Jay - that has been my(much shorter) experience as well. The LPKF and T&T bits work well so far. I did get bits from a couple more suppliers too. I should put some holes in an aluminum block to build a little plastic locator ring adjuster.

The Harbor Freight Warrior Carbide Rotary Micro Bit Assorted Set(Store SKU 62379, 44924) were uniformly rung differently from LPFK ringing. At full Z depth, they would barely drill the bed. About half had nice ring labels.

I ordered a few different mill and drill kits from AliExpress. These were all labeled "XCAN Qualified 107" through Hangzhou Xuchuan Trading Co Ltd. Unlabeled rings. No three were rung to the same depth.

In other news, I believe I found my 2.95mm x 43mm reference drill bit, and measured it against my LPKF starter pack 2.95mm x 38mm drill bit(apologies for the freehanded couch-drawn diagram).

[DiodeDipShit]

3.17mm equals  1/8"  These collars should give You adjustment. You have a choice for style and material:

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/collars/system-of-measurement~metric/system-of-measurement~inch/shaft-diameter~1-8/

[IconicPCB]

Think n Tinker will set the depth rings to Your specifications, all You need do is tell them which machine You are operating.

[dpersuhn]

Anyone here using an older Protolaser S, either first generation or the Protolaser S1.3?  I picked up Protolaser S1.3 a while back and have been working on getting in back into service as time has allowed over the last few months.  I'm at a point where I'm about 90% there, but would like to bounce questions off someone that has used one, especially if you've had maintenance and/or recalibration done by LPKF.  I'd like to know what Ophir power meter they are using for output power calibration and what normal laser warmup output power values look like.

[Awilliams684]

We have a 2012 ProtoLaser S, opted not to have LPKF calibrate it although they tried to sell me on why it was required. I did the focus and scan field calibration when we first got our unit. From what service told me when the laser warms up I belive it ramps to full power after several minutes then ramps back down to what ever the last setpoint that was used is. I think our unit ramps to like 18.3 watts or something like that (service indicated this was normal).

I guess the newer S units have a power meter built into them from what I was told.

[Eugeny_jk]

Can anyone give me any version of CircuitPro RP for the H4? I have version 1.0 and it is so raw that using the machine is a pain. I was willing to put up with constant bugs and freezes, but now I can't use a substrate that is different in thickness from the standard one. I would be very grateful.

[Caimin-IE]

Hi all!

I'm very new to working with a Protomat S64 with CircuitPro 2.7  - I'm a physicist PhD who does a little bit of board design work.

At the moment, I'm fighting with getting solder dispensing working on a pre-made PCB. I was hoping that someone could shed some light on whether this is even possible. I know it's supported on the S63 and other machines, but I haven't seen it mentioned as supported use case for the S64. Our machine does have a dispenser, and works fine when dispensing on a board which has been manufactured start-to-finish on the S64 but I'm struggling to get it to go on a externally manufactured board.

The board was designed in KiCad, and I have gerbers for all layers. It has had fiducials drilled on the manufactured PCB and these are contained within the gerber files.

I've imported the paste layer and the top copper layer, and these show as expected with CircuitPro CAM view. I can generate a dispensing toolpath on the paste layer successfully. I'm struggling with setting up the S64 to find the pre-drilled fiducials and match them to those contained in the gerber files so that it can proceed with dispensing.  I seem to only be able to set it to drill new fiducials. Our machine does have a camera so as far as I know, it should be able to pick up the pre drilled holes.

If anyone could shed some light on how to move on with this I would be very grateful. Our eclectronics department are just as confused as me with getting this to work, but I can't see any reason why it shouldn't.

Much appreciated!!