Double sided is pretty easy to make via any in-home wet chemistry. Yes, it takes a little experimenting to get the process right but anything has a learning curve.
Is there a standard through-hole plating kit available?
proconduct kit (lpkf): [http://www.lpkfusa.com/RapidPCB/Through ... -specs.htm](http://www.lpkfusa.com/RapidPCB/ThroughHolePlating/proconduct-specs.htm)funnynypd:
Is there a standard through-hole plating kit available?
tools: http://www.thinktink.com/stack/volumes/ … chmill.htm , http://www.precisebits.com/applications/pcbtools.htm
I don’t waste my time with plating holes. It’s not really worth the effort. You can use wire to connect the two sides of a via. If you think about the lack of PTH during your design you can compensate. To pass a signal from one side to the other either use a via or a pin that is exposed for soldering on both sides. It does force you to design your board a little differently but in the end it’s not much extra effort at all.
Dear rf333
i’m asking about the Professional vacuum system what is this for ?
and is the machine noisy i mean i can put it in the office
thanks in advance
Actually the noise comes from the vacuum, that collect debris from machining. The professional vacuum is very quiet and according to Accurate has a submicron filter. I am running it in my office. The noise is comparable to a dot matrix printer :Dalnx:
Dear rf333i’m asking about the Professional vacuum system what is this for ?
and is the machine noisy i mean i can put it in the office
thanks in advance
wow, that’s an excellent job on noise damping.
My vacuum is outside the office in a small storage room, so I don’t have any noise or dust problems 
I almost have the boss talked into a PCB CNC/milling machine at work. We really need it! Is there any good place to find a listing of second hand machines from LPKF, Accurate CNC or T-tech? Trying to keep cost down but also looking to get auto tool changing, vacuum table, enclosed, 8 mil and camera if possible. Two layers will need to be done on the machine. Please send any recommendations, previous experiences etc. Thanks for any help.
LPKF themselves often have used machines for sale. They offered me one when I was chatting to them at the recent Electronics Week show in London.
Leon
The new one is super expensive, how about the used ones?
A few months ago I was facing the same choice and got A360 (accuratecnc)wormsmith:
I almost have the boss talked into a PCB CNC/milling machine at work. We really need it! Is there any good place to find a listing of second hand machines from LPKF, Accurate CNC or T-tech? Trying to keep cost down but also looking to get auto tool changing, vacuum table, enclosed, 8 mil and camera if possible. Two layers will need to be done on the machine. Please send any recommendations, previous experiences etc. Thanks for any help.
Initially I looked at S62 (Ebay) but it went to $21K, same configuration new (according to the seller) was over $30K and the machine was only 18 months old.
Another try was C60 (6-7 years old) for $7K (worry about the age, mechanical worn-out,geometry, software) so I decided… new A360.
The decision was right. I am using it for 3-4 months it works fine. So far I have 30+ boards and some stencils made with ZERO problems.
If you are looking for used machine, better check for factory refurbished by manufacturer (LPKF, Accurate CNC).
P.S. Initially S62 was my dream due to the auto tool change (ATC).
Now I know that this option is not essential to me. Tool change is easy and fast on A360, I saved money and don’t need a compressor in my room.
IMHO ATC is significant advantage only for production applications (let say drilling of many boards)
Do you have a few photos? A machine can make both PCB and stencil, that’s very good, isn’t it?
funnynypd:
Do you have a few photos? A machine can make both PCB and stencil, that’s very good, isn’t it?
Here are some that I made lately:
phcnc:
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3484/9712phcnc2.png
top:
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/7910/9712top.png
bottom:
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/6848/9712bottom.png
stencil:
Is the via created by the machine? They all look small.
A few more questions:
-
How do you secure good contacts on the vias.
-
Any experience on Solder-ability of the PCB without paste-mask on top of copper?
Those photos of the milled board are beautiful, I am so tempted to purchase a mill myself.
Those boards and stencils are magnificent!!
Very tempted to get a small mill for prototyping.
Are the drills done by the mill/CNC as well?
It’s a shame the holes can’t be plated easily.
The PCB on the picture was made entirely with the machine.
The drilling is the simplest operation :). Up to 40 mill holes are drilled with drill bits and all above with router, so there are no limits to the diameter .
This way also provides savings for tools and tool changes.
The smallest drilled by me are 12 mill. If someone is interested.
There is a demo software that is running without machine http://www.accuratecnc.com/download.html also the manual is there.
I’m waiting on my first PCB from the 360, hoping it arrives today
Here are images of the double sided test PCB from the AccurateCNC 360 I had made.
http://www.goth.am/A360/A360_Test1a.png
http://www.goth.am/A360/A360_Test2a.png
Larger ( 2Mb Each)
http://www.goth.am/A360/A360_Test1.png
http://www.goth.am/A360/A360_Test2.png
I went nuts and scanned it at 600dpi
So here is a zip file @ 33MB for those who want a really close look.