PCB Isolation Routing experiences

[10bulls]

Hi guys!
I've been having a jolly old time getting into making PCBs using isolation routing.
If anyone is interested, I've written up an account of it here.
Please excuse the website...like my router it is small and amaturish.

[Mcgyver]

good job, I, and I'm sure many others appreciate that. i plan on going down that path as well! Have ever thought about how to get a black & white image, like is available for toner transfer, into Gcode? maybe corel trace?

[10bulls]

Originally Posted by Mcgyver good job, I, and I'm sure many others appreciate that. i plan on going down that path as well! Have ever thought about how to get a black & white image, like is available for toner transfer, into Gcode? maybe corel trace?

Thanks Mcgyver.
I haven't tried them yet, but Eagle power tools does have dxf->Eagle and bitmap->Eagle converters. Other than that, yes you could use corel trace or WinISO...problem there is turning that into a toolpath with proper offsets for the router bit width etc.
Could try bitmap->dxf using a trace program then dxf->eagle, eagle->gcode.
Bit convoluted though :/

Good luck!

EDIT - I just tried eagle power tools. It looks like the bmp->eagle will work, but the demo version is limited to 100px X 100px...registration is fairly cheap though...similar to Mach3.

[pminmo]

10bulls, Great job. Care if I put a link on my website to your page?

[10bulls]

Originally Posted by pminmo 10bulls, Great job. Care if I put a link on my website to your page?

Thanks, I'd be flattered. I'm hoping to get a links page up soon so I will return the favour!
BTW: Can I use your signature on my gravestone?

[MrBean]

Fantastic. Makes my boards look.....Well....Crap, really.

[smarbaga]

mrbean/
i have not looked at 10bulls place yet but thats a good lookin board u have .
also turn them upside down, they all liik the same ... nice job

[santiniuk]

Next I ran the drilling code (...TD.NC), pausing every now and then to change drills when the code told me to (...get me another drill bit Monkey Boy!).

Great stuff.

How long would you estimate it takes to mill that board 10bulls ? (Opto input).

Mr bean, that board looks pretty fine to me....

I don't have any plans to mill my boards but I would love to cnc drill them.

Do you have any thoughts on how this could be done ?

lets say I have the artwork in pdf or gerber format. Do you think it would be a quick job to generate a Gcode to do the drilling ?

Keep it up.

Cheers

[CLaNZeR]

excellent page, well done!

Out of interest, what speeds are you running the machine and drill at when rubbing out?

Regards

Sean.

[Evodyne]

Originally Posted by 10bulls Hi guys! I've been having a jolly old time getting into making PCBs using isolation routing. If anyone is interested, I've written up an account of it here. Please excuse the website...like my router it is small and amaturish.

10bulls,

Thanks so much for sharing. Very nicely done-lots of good information. I remember taking hours using rub-on Radio Shack trasfers to lay out boards and using my mom's pyrex cake pans as etchant tanks. Ugh! It would be SO nice to do it your way. Oh, by the way, I think your machine looks just fine-your site too.

Lance

[Evodyne]

Originally Posted by MrBean Fantastic. Makes my boards look.....Well....Crap, really.

Nah! Think positive: Charge controller...has to handle high current...needs wide, low-resistance traces...Perfect!

Lance

[10bulls]

Originally Posted by santiniuk How long would you estimate it takes to mill that board 10bulls ? (Opto input).

I could probably get it done in about 2-3 hours (with < 30mins needing supervision), but my mill is a bit of a donkey. I'm still using 1.25mm pitch M8 threaded rod AND I've got 1:2 reduction on my y-axis belt drives (originally planned for servos). Buckets of torque, but I don't cut much above 200mm/min.

With your swanky kit I'm sure you could get that down to much less than an hour. I takes me that long to clean up my etching chemicals.

I don't have any plans to mill my boards but I would love to cnc drill them. Do you have any thoughts on how this could be done ? lets say I have the artwork in pdf or gerber format. Do you think it would be a quick job to generate a Gcode to do the drilling ?

I *think the .cnc drill files in Alan's gerber package is Excellon...that's what I converted it as and it worked fine.
There must be an Excellon to gcode converter around somewhere (They're pretty simple text files and no need for tool offsets)
Failing that, the process I described does produce the drilling gcode file for you. (I'll attach the one I generated).
Sounds complicated (gerber->script->eagle->gcode), but once you've done it a couple of times, it only takes a minute or two.

Then you just need to line your board up. Again, take 3 hole dimensions,
jog to these points and line then up with your 'Etched' pads on your board. When your happy, clamp it.

Only problem is that with UV and toner transfer, what you see isn't always what you get. You probably have found this yourself. Hot Laser drums and paper both warp and introduce errors so you may find some drill holes don't go dead centre.

Honestly, give routing a try it's a LOT easier than it sounds.