PCB Modification Question

[mark10970 0]

Hi,

I would like to experiment making printed circuit boards with my UM.

Has anyone used an UM to lay down ABS as "resist" on copperclad to make pcbs? Can someone tell me the thinnest "line" that can be drawn with the smallest nozzle available, perhaps a .1 or .2mm nozzle?

Does it seem feasible to do this? Thanks for any information.

Mark

 

[owen 19]

I thinks it's more feasible to make a pen plotter for your UM and get a suitable pen for the job. Check out Thingiverse, It's been done like that before.

 

[Daid 306]

I've made PCBs before, but I always find it messy and the results never that great. I just got boards I ordered from http://imall.iteadstudio.com/open-pcb/pcb-prototyping.html (10 pieces of 10x10cm 2 sided for $25) and I'm very happy with the result. Took about 2.5 week from ordering to delivery, with the cheapest shipping option.

 

[mark10970 0]

Thanks, Owen. I spend a lot of time on a Yahoo group that explores alternative ways to make pcbs. Pen plotters have been discussed numerous times over the years, but they do not seem to work reliably in the real world, though I'm not sure why. Perhaps I will revisit the topic and take a look.

Mark

 

[mark10970 0]

Thank you Daid. I agree that pcbs can be ordered reasonably inexpensively, but 2.5 weeks is a long time. The "goal" of the Homebrew_PCBs Yahoo group is to produce (relatively) high quality boards in a few hours or less. We have explored many different methods, ranging from printing resist via modified Epson printers, to pen plotters, photoresist techniques and on and on.

One thought using a 3D printer would be to use ABS as a resist, printing it directly on heated copperclad board, thus my question concerning minimum width of a line of plastic. Another way to use the UM might be to print conductive ink directly on FR4 board to make pcbs additively. These are things that might be worth exploring, but I am just doing research for now.

Mark

 

[codemaven 0]

Hi Mark,

Check out this post if you have not seen it:

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/2663-pcb-laser-exposure-mod/

I thought about the ABS as print resist as well but decided that it would be too much hassle... It probably wouldn't stick to the copper, might have stringing, and it would be a pain to clean off.... Then I thought of the pen plotter method and figured it may be difficult to get nice thin traces with a pen... So then it occurred to me that you could use photosensitive board and attach a UV laser to the UM instead of a pen... I had planned to try this out, but as per the above post someone else got to it first and after a lot of trial and error it does seem to work.

I'm building a small cnc router at the moment... Mostly I intend to use it for drilling as that is always how I usually screw up my home-made boards is by poor drilling... But I'm also going to try isolation routing with it. I think that photo-resist etching and then CNC drilling should give near professional production level results.

Cheers,

Troy.

 

[mark10970 0]

Hi CodeMaven,

After thinking about it and doing a few experiments, I agree that ABS in a UM is not a good way to make pcbs. Thanks for the input.

Mark.

 

[owen 19]

This is the pen someone else was using

Fine-Tip Red Color Staedtler Lumocolor Permanent Marker 318-2

Owen

 

[mark10970 0]

_{Thank you - I'll take a look at it.}

_Mark

 

[cemsolak 0]

Hi @mark10970. I understand I've been a bit late to see this thread. I had actually experimented on this exactly like you did and I was forced to admit that using a pen (which sounds better logically too) is a better option. I've been trying to come up with something new since using a pen is too slow. Recently I tried a few sticky UV resistant chemicals to form a thin layer over the board. This has given me a new hope, I will soon be updating this on my blog and will let you guys know about it. Hope you have a good day.

http://www.7pcb.co.uk/PCB-Assembly/