We have one of the more expensive LPKF PCB machines(vacuum table,automatic tool changer,camera) in my day job. I can not imagine going back to days when I would wait days for pcb for experiments and proof of concepts
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In house proto manufacturing IMHO absolutely worth it
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Every time the guy who is in charge of the machine is off, or the mill has some problems(wit our heavy use, it breaks time to time...), there this sense of impeding doom among electronics designers
We have team of cca 25 electronics designers, and most of the day the PCB mill is working all day long. Also our colleagues from mechanical department discovered that you can make nice stuff from plexi and POM, so the CNC is used for this as well. We have used it for qfn, and even some BGA no problems.
For vias we use rivets and wire stitching
Regarding the working area - I would guess that 70% of the stuff(PCBs, no the mechanical stuff, that one is usually bigger) we do would fit.
For fine pitch stuff, I would argue that solder mask is more important than really fine trace/separation.
There absolutely needs to be a vacuum tube holder/ some other means of get rid of chips.
Have you considered adding laser for exposing photo resist/solder mask?
Nice hack with the oil, what happens if I put more then optimum amount? Will it flow all over the machine, or is there defined way into some container?
How long does it take to change tool? Auto-changer would be a great upgrade.