Why CNC?

[Tom]

Sounds great! Here are some plans.... (tee hee)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ_xyh4ehNo&feature=related"]YouTube- Gigabyte Mainboard Factory[/ame]

I've been in a board manufacturer before, and this is the method that they used:
Screenprint solder paste (stainless screens), 3D vision system to check for paste registration (and volume), pick and place machine(including pick, scan to check orientation, rotate to correct, and place)(as in the video above), then another vision system to confirm, and finally the reflow oven. You could obviously skip the pre and post paste vision systems (what I saw was pretty high volume).
If the boards are small, consider processing them joined together then do a final op (punch, or route) to separate into individual boards.

It sounds fun! I'm looking forward hearing all about it!

[saxonhawthorn]

Blimey Tom! That machine was going pdq. My only experience of automated board manufacture was at Sony forty years ago. We built a factory in Wales for making TV sets, and at £10k each the pick-and-place robots were the most expensive machines in the factory. But they went at a stately plodding pace compared with the clip you posted. Quite an eye-opener. Thank you very much for the benefit of your experience.

Yes, I'm not planning to manufacture TV sets! My boards will be quite small, so I'll place several on one sheet and route them out.

Ian