PCB Etching: Milling Method

This class will cover how to make your own PC Boards with MakeICTs PCB milling machine.

Sometimes the project just isn't complete until you have all the parts neatly soldered on to your own custom made PCB. In this class Tom McGuire will show us his favorite techniques for making an electronic project including making the PC board. We'll briefly go over designing circuits on a breadboard and trouble shooting them with some test equipment. Then we'll go over laying out the circuit board in Eagle PCB Editor. Members can follow along on laptops provided. And finally we'll make a board and solder some parts on to it . The machine can cut traces, drill holes, and do double sided boards.

Lesson Plan

  Welcome and explain my(Tom McGuire) back ground in circuit design and milling.
  Show LPKF ([1])
   and my instructables ([2])
  Discuss the purpose and practical applications for PCB milling.

Discovery

  Design a basic circuit (the motor speed revers circuit)
  Look for the parts on Digikey or Mouser using the search engine. 
  pull up the data sheet [3]
  breadboard the circuit
  use the oscilloscope and discover where some caps need to go.

Document and layout

  Show the Eagle download page ([4])
  Show the PCB-Gcode downlosd page ([5])
  Start a new Schematic
  convert to PCB layout and arrange the parts
  run the traces (the fun part)
  Run the upl for PCB-gcode

Make PCB

  Move the files to LinuxCNC
  load the mill bit
  Zero the X,Y,and Z axis
  hit play
  load the drill bit 
  zero the Z axis
  hit play

Solder

  Clean up the board
  Peel some copper
  Solder some parts

Fin

  Hook it up and play with it