500 lines is quite a bit of code, a way around it is to split the program up into 2 or 3 separate ones etc.!
Max.

Does it need to be split in some logical manner? Or can it be split pretty much anywhere as long as you don't split it in the middle of an action?

Have you done CNC on PCBs?

 

You should be able to divide the program up at some logical point. You may have to modify, say the initial coded entry point etc. but it should not be that much of a problem.
I have not used a CNC for PCB's, I had a local guy that produced them for me, but he did not have through hold plating ability, so now I use one of the Chinese sources for the few I need now.
My occupation for the last 25-30yrs has been in CNC, both retro-fitting using commercial systems and design using PC based, but I traditionally do not use Mach.
Max.

 

Another question. How do you keep the stock flat? PCBs have a bend in them. I have read where you can mill a sacrificial board flat but that does not help the PCB if there is a bend in it.

 

I know 0 about this, but I think if I made enough boards to think about a CNC I would use photo-sensitized boards and use the CNC only for the holes.
But if your thinking flat for the traces vacuum might be the way to go.

 

I guess you could drill holes in you sacrificial board. I don't know how that affects the flatness of your surface.

 

I would shy away from this idea.

Unless you have a real CNC machine, with a solid spindle- with very low run out - and a vacuum chuck to hold the board down flat - and the right carbide tooling. Even then, it's barely worth the trouble, if you can afford all this machinery, you might be smart enough to just send the boards to a quick-turn board house.

With cheap hobby milling machines, you are going to experience a horror of frustration, broken bits and wasted time.

 

I think a lot of people use acrylic. Bet with a CNC where you can control depth you could have a thinner sheet as the sacrificial surface and the thick one for locating pins.
But I think Sensacell is right, holes are one thing the whole board another. I've always been to cheap to build the stuff for the light sensitized boards, but always wish I had when I use the press and peel.

 

@Sensacell just a very good point. How many thousands of dollars will you spend to be able to make a board that is basically inferior to a double sided board with through hole plating, solder mask and silk screen made by a PCB house? How many boards could you have built for the same money. How much time and hassle would you not incur by using a fast turn PCB house make your boards for you?
Making home built simple PCBs with the photographic method or toner transfer method is cost effective. They are cheap to make, but require your labor. There are a lot of people on this forum that make PCBs this way.

 

I saw one company using water or something else to cover the board and then mill in the water so there is no dust..

 

I saw one company using water or something else to cover the board and then mill in the water so there is no dust..

They also use this method with plasma cutting to keep the fumes down.
Max.

 

PCB milling has advantages for both prototyping and some special PCB designs. Probably the biggest benefit is that one doesn't have to use chemicals to produce PCB's.

 

I would shy away from this idea.

Unless you have a real CNC machine, with a solid spindle- with very low run out - and a vacuum chuck to hold the board down flat - and the right carbide tooling. Even then, it's barely worth the trouble, if you can afford all this machinery, you might be smart enough to just send the boards to a quick-turn board house.

With cheap hobby milling machines, you are going to experience a horror of frustration, broken bits and wasted time.

@Sensacell just a very good point. How many thousands of dollars will you spend to be able to make a board that is basically inferior to a double sided board with through hole plating, solder mask and silk screen made by a PCB house? How many boards could you have built for the same money. How much time and hassle would you not incur by using a fast turn PCB house make your boards for you?
Making home built simple PCBs with the photographic method or toner transfer method is cost effective. They are cheap to make, but require your labor. There are a lot of people on this forum that make PCBs this way.

That is what I was thinking too. I could invest all of the time and money and some up with a boat anchor.

 

You could build a simple CNC laser cutter. Simply spray the PCB with Acrylic paint and then use a weak laser to burn it off and then etch it.

 

I only skimmed this thread so please forgive me if this has been mentioned, but we've got a little OtherMill at work and it works great. Some people suggested you can build the same yourself for less cash and that might be true, but out of the box this works. My coworker uses it for PCBs all the time, I believe he just imports his gerber files:

 

years ago, when working on video games and pinballs, I ran into a few games with milloed boards. the boards came from asia and were copies of regulat boards. a cnc milled double sided board copied from another board. they had wires from one side to the other instead of plated through holes.

 

they had wires from one side to the other instead of plated through holes.

It does not get more beautiful than that!

 

Then there are these "Circuit Board Printers"

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...rcuit-board-prototyping-machine/posts/1423838

They squirt some conductive ink out on a substrate to make "Circuit Boards"
I can see how this will help in some cases, but the traces produced have much higher resistance than real copper.
This will cause lots of newbie frustration and grief when things misbehave in ways that are not easy to understand.

I would not touch this with 10 foot pole.

 

How about a 1/2 inch dispenser? Soldering would also be a pain I suspect.

 

What is a 1/2" dispenser?

 

There is some good info in these 2 threads.

http://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/small-cnc-machines-for-making-pc-boards.144544/

and http://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/milled-board-done.135099/

If it isn't mentioned, you can use double sided carpet tape to mount your board to a milled aluminum plate or MDF board.