If anyone was interested in seeing a photo of my latest creation...
I was more interested in how you do it...If anyone was interested in seeing a photo of my latest creation...
So this is an advertisement of your services? Should probably ask the mods to relocate from here to Marketplace sub-forum.Stick your mind to it for 5 years plus lots of money, time and effort
Getting the PCBs flat can be done by heating them up (hot to the touch), and putting bricks ontop of them, alot of bricks. Also make sure the surface is flat and when the boards cool down they "should" be flat. Personally I just bend them to shape and measure against a reference surface. Takes about 10 seconds to do (just need practice). But realise that when the material is warm it is VERY easy to bend.We do it one PCB at one time even though it is able to take A4 sized PCB. The problem is it is very hard to lay the PCB totally flat so that the router wouldn't break the drill bit when drilling holes. The tracks are also drilled using another type of drill bits.
Thanks a lot ! I work REALLY hard in my workshop (trying to work for myself while working no less than 12 hours a day). Im hoping that in the future I can consider masking my own kits so they are more beginner friendly. So far though its looking good! Im not exaggerating when I say it has taken 5 years of continuous production to get to this level. You will find my PCB pictures date back to 2011 (with other files on my computer dating back to 2010). That was when my dad first let me use ferric chloride (I wanted it so much I made a presentation on the safety aspects of it).Those are some beautiful boards. Nice work!
Are you saying these boards are milled?
Thanks for the tips. We'll try that on our next batch of PCB making. What we did recently was to put lots of double-sided sticky tape on the under-side of the PCB to make sure that it was totally flat. My method may be different from yours as my whole board is milled and not using any photographic UV exposure method.Getting the PCBs flat can be done by heating them up (hot to the touch), and putting bricks ontop of them, alot of bricks. Also make sure the surface is flat and when the boards cool down they "should" be flat. Personally I just bend them to shape and measure against a reference surface. Takes about 10 seconds to do (just need practice). But realise that when the material is warm it is VERY easy to bend.
Completely forgot to mention. The secondary method (I use both), is to standardize ALL of your A4 PCBs so that they have a drill hole (3mm), in diameter in each corner. On your bed you add a thick piece of wood with bolts going through so that the tip of the bolt is a cm above the bed. Then you can bolt down the PCB which gives you no movement of the work-piece and keeps it flat. It also helps with origins too.Thanks for the tips. We'll try that on our next batch of PCB making. What we did recently was to put lots of double-sided sticky tape on the under-side of the PCB to make sure that it was totally flat. My method may be different from yours as my whole board is milled and not using any photographic UV exposure method.
I did try to make SMD PCB with using the laser CNC. Just 4 and 16 pin chips like 555 and 4017. But the result was very poor. And without solder mask, the soldering is tough and looks messy and I have to be very careful not to bridge the adjacent pins.
Allen