Hello there, greetings. any advice regarding a 3D printer or something like that capable of printing PCB's?

I'm learning, little by little, this electronics world and I'm building my equipment so I can just do and keep doing.

I'd appreciate all and any advice.


thanks

your friend Jorginho

 

Why not use one of the free software, Kicad etc, to produce Gerber files and send to one of the cheap Chinese processors of PCT boards?
Max.

 

Hello there, greetings. any advice regarding a 3D printer or something like that capable of printing PCB's?

I'm learning, little by little, this electronics world and I'm building my equipment so I can just do and keep doing.

I'd appreciate all and any advice.


thanks

your friend Jorginho

As far as I know there are no hobby priced 3D printers that can make PCBs.
The nearest is a CNC router.

 

As far as I know there are no hobby priced 3D printers that can make PCBs.

Simple mod of a hobby 3d printer, surely? Just replace the poly-filament feeder with a hopper of molten copper . Brings a new meaning to 'copper pour'.

 

Another advantage with the board shop option is that you get dual/multi layer boards with through hole plating, silk screening etc.
Max.

 

RE: AlbertHall.
With a method of drill-grinding a channel around each pach there are. But its damn slow, and result would look nicer, ideally. Thus there are no known alternatives to photoresist.
1) The pcb conveyor is thing clapping ca hundreds of thousands pieces per day, otherhow the one pcb price is skyrocketing. Why You need such problem in experimental manufacturing. By the hand one is able to produce no less than some 1000 or more pcb at one working day.
2) The main methods are two: one is for extra cheap and very fast production, the hot iron method with chalk paper. But results are poor if the paches are under the 1mm and gaps under 0,5mm.
3) The exact method useful for even most demanding SMDs is "Positiv+" aerosol, what givesso much nice as much the printer is capable to give. For best results apply pure black at colour regime (R+G+B=100%C) and density about 115%. Exposition via 50 x 3W China 400nm LEDs from 30cm about 8 seconds. For pressing I use yet not a vacuum but ordinary pure quartz platelet.
4) The cheaper but more caprice is polyvinylalcohol photoresist, extremely cheap but even in fridge it eldening at few months, and whole operation demands a bit hands not be much curvy.

For any newcomer I would reccoment the Positiv+ process. Easy, fast, and inspite the flacon is not cheap, it serves very long, for several tens of square meters.

So, I see no place in all this the machinery, except if You need a 6-layer pcb with through-hole metallisation.

 

E: MaxHead. Its untrue about silkscreening. The green, blue, read and yellow photosensitive silkscreen masks are sold at ebay for ca 5$ a tin, and it is not more complicated as produce the etching mask. Just press a shablon to pcn, expose, and wash in the NaOH weak sol. Ready. Those silks are even more beautiful as those mass products made on many Asian electronics factories.

 

RE: Jorginho
The only things You really need are high quality no scratch colour termoset type printer, thermo-stable films size A4, the Positiv+ flacon, the 60C drying box; the 400nm lighter unit about A5 size of area on 30cm high stative. As well the mild vacuum unit for no gap contact between film and pcb board or alternatively quartz plate (or other material transparent for UV. Two photo kivettes, one for NaOH 8g/l (other recipes say 20 g/l) of water, other for FeCl3 solution, about 1kg to 2 liters of water.. Kepp the last in 60C box before etching. The etching quality will boost significantly, if board will stay vertically in narrow but high paralellpiped shape bath, what has tiny holes plethora in small air-pipe in bottom, fed by vibrating aquarium air-pump. The optimum is 0,5mm drillings each 1 cm of length.
The said is enough to produce 0,05mm details with exact contours in one hour about 100 pieces.