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I've used a Chinese 3020 milling machine for making double sided PCBs for a couple of years now and it works remarkably well. The key is to slow down the machine a little for more accuracy.
They are more than capable of making very tight PCBs ready for surface mount components.
I haven't used lubrication on the board, simply the vacuum cleaner removing the dust every now and then.
Hi to204
Thank you for the response .. .. . the reason I asked about lubrication is that I read an article on the net recently advocating an oil to prevent copper burrs, but it looked awfully messy !
I would be interested to know what range of cutters you use for PCBs .. .. . I've no experience at all
S
Copper burrs are not that big an issue if it happens, simply use a piece of green scotch pad on the board. If you're mill bit is reasonably sharp, no significant burrs will occur.
I use the mill bits from Crownhill:
http://www.crownhill.co.uk/02097.html
They are excellent bits and will give a lovely 0.2mm route around the tracks, which means SMD tracks are easily accompished. I've found that using them at about 6000 RPM will make them last a bit longer and give a nice clean cut.
Great ! Thanks for that .. .. I'll order some for the big tryout.
I've got some cheap chinese bits ex Ebay to use for experiments, getting used to the machine and the software but I wanted to find something a bit better for when it matters.
The only issue I'll have is accurately setting spindle speed. The Control Box with the machine has a potentiometer on the panel to control speed but it is only marked with a series of white dots which get progressively larger - presumably meaning faster !
I've looked at the control boards inside and there are connections available for PWM which I could use to get Mach3 to control spindle speed but that's quite an experimental project to take on right now. I did see an article on the net a while ago, detailing how to do exactly that, but there was no outcome posted, so I don't know if it was successful or not.
I'm currently building a probe system to operate Autoleveller on my machine. I've made a nylon baseboard with a cutout the same size as the PCB blank, with a small clip on each corner which Gnd the copper cladding so that when the probe touches, it registers the exact height of the board.
Thanks for the support, very much appreciated .. ..
S
Using an electric probe and Gcode that uses the multiple heights with interpolation is essential for good PCB production.
On Ebay there are very inexpensive digital laser RPM meters available from China that will give you your spindle speed within minutes. You can then calibrate your potentiometer.
That's a good idea, I'm glad I thought of that ! :biggrin:Quote:
Originally Posted by to204
S
Can you please help me to understand its internal hardware working?
What are the specifications of the all of the components of the control board in this machine?
Also what type of the control is required here in this machine?
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