Dear All,

I am browsing this site for a couple of months and found it very helpful. It was really amazing to find so many things happing here.

Finally I decided to make my cnc for drilling/milling PCBs.

Can anyone provide some tips on this.

I want to have work area 12 x 12 inch at minimum and plan to use T-Slots and linear bearings with moving gantry.

1) What should the size of t-slots 80x80, 60x120 for x-axis ???
2)Should I use shaft/shaft support/open pillow blocks or Precision Profile Rail Systems.
3)Should I use one lead screw or 2 leads screw(belt-driven) for x-axis.
4) I somewhat like the bungard cnc but it is out of my reach. Does anybody explain the x-axis system of bungard. I could not figure out exactly.
5) It is possible to buy a slim motor-integrated spindle cheaply for pcbs.
As this is going to be my first machine, please help me in taking decisions.

Thanxs.

For PCB making , Milling is not that good.

TRY THIS:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30951

Kym

For PCB making , Milling is not that good.

TRY THIS:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30951

Kym

I think that's a bit of a broad generalisation....

Milling PCB's is a good way for an electronics hobbiest to make PCB's without chemicals, if that is what they want to do... With a moderately accurate CNC router/mill you can make very functional PCB cheaply.

(I don't actually do either, I get my PCB's made by a commercial PCB fab. house...)

Kiwichris

Well having milled a few PCB,s myself and then using direct inkjet printing
of PCB's. I Know which i prefer: This method gives a much better finished
product and is a lot less costly than building a mill to machine boards.

Yeah don't like them chemicals myself, but results speak for them self.

Kym

Well, I make board using toner transfers and wanted some easier process. Hence I talked about milling. But my boards needs to be drilled also (most of them are 0.8mm ). It is a tedious job to make large (200-400 ) number of holes using hand drill/drill press. CNC PCB drillers are better choice as switching to surface mount components is not always a viable solution for me.

Hence I decided to make a m/c for this purpose only. With so many expert here I expect a little guidance for my first project.

I know about direct PCB printing.It's a superb option. But I will get my hands dirty after this project.