Milling PCBs

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Thread: Milling PCBs

  1. #1
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    Default Milling PCBs

    Wow lots of sub forums. I hope I found the right one for this. If not, if a kind admin can move this thread it will be greatly appreciated.

    Any way, I inquired about a new drill press for drilling PCBs, on an electronics forum where I hang out and a forum member turned me on to the CNC3020. Seems it gets pretty good marks for a hobbyist and a decent price. My hands just are not that steady and my hand to eye coordination is not that great so an inexpensive CNC might be the ticket.

    A forum member on that forum mentioned this thread where he was asking questions about getting started.


    The one post says "The shallower the angle the shallower the point on the tool, witch helps keep the cutting width of the tool uniform over the surface of a board". What is considered a "shallow angle" for a bit? Which one should I get for a newbie?

    The other post mentions "alignment pins". I plan to watch the video but in case I miss that part or don't understand, how are they used? Do they go through the PCB or just the plate holding the PCB?

    Are they really needed or is this something I can pick up later to get more consistent results?

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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Milling PCBs

    Are you asking about CNC Drilling a board or CNC Milling a board?

    I small CNC mill is great for drilling. I made a video about it.

    CNC for milling depends on the tolerances. Simple circuit boards could use a a dremel on a simple mill. But more complex circuits, require much tighter tolerances provided by a good spindle.

    You can CNC Drill and still etch if you have trouble with tolerances.

    As for the pins, I use alignment pins on my mill table so I can flip the board and do the other side with precise location. You still need some thru-holes, with circuits lining up on each side.

    My process is here: Drilling the PCB



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    Default Re: Milling PCBs

    Quote Originally Posted by Soldertraining View Post
    In PCB Milling there is no use of chemicals to produce PCBs. A CNC machine is used to process drilling, milling, and cutting. In PCB milling, the quality of a circuit board is determined by the system's true, or weighted, milling accuracy and control.
    For the basics this is true. But I plate thru-holes and tin the copper so I do use chemicals and wet processes.

    When plating thru-holes, it is easiest to drill, plate then mill. It s difficult to plate a milled board.

    Also, milling down to extreme tolerances below 5 mil -- it is easier to cnc drill then chemically etch.



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