How hard is it to make diy PCBs if you’re a Noob ?

[HankMcSpank]

I mill my own pcbs all the time....the win for me is turnaround time (from completing the circuit to having the board in my hand is about 1hr ...on par with chemical etching but the results are more predictable & also the holes are done at the end of the process - and the pcb outline/mount holes sorted). I've tried most CNC pcb milling methods & associated apps,here's what I settled on...

1. Design cct in Eagle
2. Export track layer (from the Eagle board) to a gerber file
3. Import gerber file to cambam - cam it up.
4. Save g-code
5. Open g-code in CNC-USB
6. Probe actual FR4 copper surface with CNC-USB (then use probed data to update the Z height data sourced from your g-code file)
7. Mill board.

The problem with milling pcb is one of height irregularities - it doesn't take much error with a V cutter to end up with a track that is not isolated etc....especially with SMD components (which is what I typically use) That's why I went with CNC-USB ...it has an integrated feature called warp (step 6 above).

It's apprently possible to do a similar thing to 'warp' with an Eagle plugin called pcb-gcode...I tried with mixed/frustrating results.

[Lee Roberts]

I really like DipTrace.

.Me

[Swarfing]

Check out visolate which is quite good, the page has a lot of other useful stuff to.

http://reprap.org/wiki/PCB_Milling#g...cb_-.3E_G-code

[HankMcSpank]

wrt to pcb milling, I thought visolate would be by saviour...(I spent way too long trying to master it) ...it turns out it was my curse.

Using voronoi regions sounds like an excellent way of cutting down on track cutting (track isolation) time...turns out it's also an even better way if increasing the stray capacitance on your final pcbs (not by a little...by a *massive* amount)

[Swarfing]

I would agree with you on that Hank. To have a go at routing pcb's though is a good way to practice with software wise though.

[dsc]

I'd say designing PCBs is not massively complicated if it's for simple circuits, where placements of elements is not that crucial. I've used EagleCAD before and got my head around it pretty quickly.

As far as cutting goes, I would've loved to have a CNC simply to cut the acid etched PCB down to the right size, especially when doing round shapes. Then again, if you can auto generate the g-code, I guess there's no quicker way. Just for laughs and to show acid etching works not so badly, here's a PIC based timer board I've done a long time ago:



this is the round PCB which could've used a CNC.

Regards,
dsc.

[Fivetide]

Wow thanks guys .. loads of advice there and ideas :) .. what do think of this and dont start with "Fuckin Maplins are crap" lol but they have a starter kit half price its looks like print iron and disolve.. thinks its wortha tenner punt to havea go ?