Beautiful aluminum extrusions and other profiles. Nice crisp results. I cannot believe how small the 0201 SMD parts are. Not for hand soldering. I can do 0402 on a good day
me too. But a friend of mine has bought a nice 3d-microscope. An optical x4 or x8. But it is more than €3000. But when you've seen that you do not want a camera solution any more.... I usually prototype using 0603
Well made! But i'm curious: 1.Do you take special cares for the acceleration / deceleration in the ends of the scanline ? 2. How do you create constant current (90mA) for the LASER during the "on" period ? I think that with a powerful resistor or a powerful transistor acting like resistor, e.t. linear. Possible ways for speedup (in theory): use N lasers, focused each exactly at next scanline so to do N scanlines at once. 3. How long is one point at the scanline ? speed of the head / point_time 4. Why the diode is operated with pulses ? Thus you expose each point with 50% of the power. Doesn't it work within spec. with constant current (e.t. keep it on when you need to expose, keep it off when you need to form a track) ?
Hi,1. Yes start and stop ca 300pix with acceleration / deceleration.2. DAC as referenz, OP with transistor as regulator, analog switch , see my next video...3.0.0206mm ...next video4. i think lifetime !?, I do not have the data sheet and do not know the type.at ca 10mA low, i can see the laser with USB cam.90mA have similar diodes !?The diode will last through many hours already.
Good morning. Can you please write some information on the laser module you used? What is the wavelength? And the nominal power? Thanks for your attention.
Thank's for your video. Ok, I afforded a TTS-55 from TwoTree. I think my definition ressemble yours. I struggle to see because you don't show a 0.25 mm track. But it seams that problem start around this size with your letters. Some chips need 0.25 to start from them for example the LT8705 power supply. With classic methods: i mean transparency laser printer and UVs etching, i can reach these sizes but there are other problems due to printers: 1/Linearity problems 2/Scaling problems. What paint do you use? Thank's. Jean-Yves.
46x27.5 mm in 13 mins is slow? With photosensitive film/toner transfer + Etching agents + curing, that would have taken over an hour!.. You are making it over 6 times faster.. thats really fast.. I know you would want a faster result with the machine printing like a paper printer, hope some laser like that would be invented some day!
But in comparison to "professional methods" its rather slow. Also it depends on how many u want to print/produce. For me its about 20-30 mins preparation and then like 5-10mins work per board (direct toner). But its great work of course!
Hi, have a questions: 1) what kind of plate you use? its the normal FR4 with or w/o photoresist? 2) what kind of kimicals you use? whay 2 baths? 3) in the first bath, the plastic tanque, what have benid it? its any heat resistor to heat the bath? (you do it yourself or this plastic tank can buy it? 4) where you buy the cnc and the laser? or you build it by yourself? thank you! p.s.: where you from?
Not bad. Generally you have the best mechanical design I ever seen. It is even better than the most of commercial solutions. It looks so strong to make an drill instead of lightweight laser engraving diode. I suggest to work on the software because you still have some lumps and defects on the etched board. Also initial covering the PCB by plastic should be improved (consider spin coating). Some of things may be optimized but it is worth of effort, this machine have a really great potential. Microelectronics is possible (after change red to blue ;) ).
Great Job, But the Printed Circuit is working ? and i think you can do the itching on just the circuit without the Letters by printing them after itching
Nice work! I was trying to do mine based on spinning mirror prism from laser printer, but never got time to get it finished. It was based on Arduino and was reading BMP picture from SD card and projecting it line by line on the prism. Nowadays PCB manufacturing is very cheap and quick, so I abandoned this idea.
Is this laser a normal "chinese" laser ? I mean how can you make the dot so small ? Also how do you turn on - off the laser ? are you usung a transistor and a microcontroller ? Your work is amazing !!!
Could you tell me a software that works (line by line) like that created by you and not working as a classic Mach3 and others. Maybe give control scheme of the laser. Congratulations on achieving !
Hi, resolution on your process is ridiculos ! wow i am very impressed !! I like this , thanks for sharing ! could you please share with us the power of your laser ? thanks
If the copper clad is already coated with an UV sensitive film . Why not print directly onto a transparency using a laser printer and then use a UV light source and the printed transparency to transfer the image to the copper. Even if you have already build this excellent CNC machine, drilling would be a better task for it. If I am wrong I'd love to hear your argument. Thank you very much!
While that works too, it can be difficult to get a good dark print on a transparency. Often, a little light leaks through, causing pitting and problems with small details.
That is the way we all did it in the past, but because of the use of toxic chemicals, trying and error for the right timing (exposure) and developing, and a lot of time, there is need for better easyer methodes. Some are good with the toner transfer methode, and some have even made direct pcb printing possible with inkjet printers and LASERPRINTER. So this methode would have the advance to be very simple setup. Cut your board, load patern, set xy begin point and start software. That is ofcource if the author releases his code. Go have a coffe and a cookie, and when you come back your pc is ready for etching. ( still with toxic compounds, but i'm sure someone will find another way...lol )
Could you explain what you applied to the PCB before running the laser over it? I'd like to replicate this process though I'm not sure what steps you took to prep the board prior to etching - thx
it's photo resist film. Normally you would use a UV light with a mask of your circuit printed on some clear plastic laid over the board. The board has film on it.
Awesome work. I haven't understood very well what did you do with the lasser diode. Did you attack the copper part to remove? Could you tell more about post prosses?
Whats it like on flexible pcb ,teflon etc ? Looks a damn site easier than the 90's when 0.05mm track gaps were about the smallest using resist and etching!
Oh yes, the wonderful days of making your own pcbs. Unfortunately I don't have the time to do projects like this these days. I also never had the mechanical savvy to create something like this. Code, any day, digital electronics, some, analog electronics, a bit on a good day, mechanical gadgets, you don't want to see me try.
Nice work! Great resolution. Do you think the laser can be controlled by parallel port as if it was a mill, not going line by line but following paths instead? Don't you think this could improve speed? Congrats anyway.
Could you maybe tell me some more about your etching process aswell as it seems to be two stage process. The covered bits seem to turn black in the bubble tank. Or is that just the lighting?
Dude, this project is amazing! How did you do all those pcbs for the atmega and the serial converter? I mean, did you follow a tutorial or something? Do you have the projetct for this machine? I am planning to do a small homemade pcb milling and drilling machine, to have a fully automatic desktop pcb manufacturing machine. Any tips or advides?
Thanks for showing so clearly the performances of your machine. Nice resolution,and great engineering with contained vibrations,judging by result. I dont think to be able to do the same with my best press 'n' peel It would be great to etch the copper directly wit a powerful laser,but to me it looks dangerous as weaponry,1 wrong reflection and one gets blind before feeling the pain. Of course one could enclose the head,once everything works,but,during tests and adjustments everything could happen.
Greate project Do you control the TMC 260 with SPI Interface or STEP/DIR interface? Do you publish this project with source ,a want to buil a smal version from your design. Thank you for sharing your video
I know this video is a few years old, im hoping you still read the comments, What are you using to convert a Grb file to solid black and what software are you using as a plotter ?
what cad are you using ,i have tina7 ind,i cannot find a 3f5 model for the 328p in any form factor,i do have a 28 pin dip footprint,but i realy want a TQFP 32 pin footprint,i'm gathering all the bits to make my own cnc ,using the ch340 usb to serial and a atmega 328p of some sort, using all my own driver boards i can minimise unwanted parts and focus on the system needs ,stepper drivers connections for end stop switches,coolant,etc,all on one small pcb,with its own power supply. IU don't want codes or plans or pdfs,if you could inform me of the cad,did you have 328p icsTQFP types on your pcb driver boards and if so do the 3f5 models come with eagle or whataver cad you used,did you import them,if you imported them can you tell me where from. you can i believe spray black gloss paint on the copper clad board ,the laser will remove it,relieving you of developer stages and straight to etch,though i would go for a milled board as the laser seems a bit slow,but then this seems to be raster,isn't vector faster,either way,this is a very nice machine,i want one much bigger to make guitar bodies,still,i love this stuff. Excellent work and ingenuity.
Wie lange braucht das ganz Board? Erinnert mich an eine Hardcopy-Routine die ich irgendwann in den 80ern für eine Typenrad-Schreibmaschine (mit Centronics) schrieb. Mit dem "." und Microsteps 320x240 pixel in - hmmm, ich glaube 2 Stunden oder so :-) Für Leiterplatten würde ich mal zu gerne dieses "print with conductive silver ink" testen. Dann hast das Ergebnis direkt ohne Chemie. Ich dachte erst, Dein Laser dampft das Kupfer direkt weg :-) Tatsächlich ist die Produktion heute so preisgünstig geworden - sogar für 4 Lagen - mit direktem Upload aus dem Layout-Programm. Das lohnt alles kaum noch. Außer halt für Spaß.
Can you please post the test pattern you used, I'm getting close to etching my first board and this would be a great tool to see the limitations of my setup. Thanks
Very good. I wonder if a scanning laser could be made at home. We used to photo expose news paper aluminium printing plates using this process. I assume this would be much quicker than stepping a cnc type machine. Well done
A scanning laser has a variable distance from the laser to the scanned surface. This requires a lens with a variable focal length as function of angle. Laser printers have such lenses, but they are calculated for their infrared laser wavelength and would not work for 405nm. Build the lens and you can have a pcb laser printer.
I assume you are using some kind of photo sensitive PCB. Assuming I'm correct, isn't the board sensitive to ambient light? In other words, wouldn't the board be exposed prematurely with this method? Or is it that the board is only sensitive to a particular wavelength? What am I missing? Thanks.
Generally, I find that artificial ambient light, not sunlight (usually UV sensitive - look at his wavelength), has little effect under about an hour anyway with most pre-coated photo-resist PCB (RS Components). Of course, the more you expose it, the more trouble you'll get, but I'd think that this situation would be fine - you could always turn the lights off until it had finished.
Hello, I do have a Question, is it possible to cut 50um thick copper foil? would it present a problem to add kapton film? what is the power of your laser? 1W?
Amazing stuff!!! What kind of PCB are you using? I am not totally sure I understand how laser-ing the copper will do this, except if there is a coating on the PCB that the laser is actually burning off... :) Must say the resolution is amazing!!!
The laser is not burning anything, it just exposures the photosensitive coating that is on the pcb. The 405 nM Laser light is close to the light those boards need, 300-400 nm. Hope this make it more clear for you.
Can you describe this process a little? What exactly are you laser etching away? Is it a film or the copper itself? If you're lasering the PCB, then why do you also need to chemically etch it too?
Kristian Keller Thanks. That makes a lot more sense. If I had a laser etcher though, I would go with a paint coating and laser etch everything except the traces away. Then I would continue to etch normally with either acid or household chemicals, depending upon the project.
It's believed that the old XBOX laser is PHR-803T or DT0811. So it seems you drive it accordingly. IMO, there's a way to determine the right current, even when you don't know the laser type - measure the threshold current where the diode starts and use 120..150% of it (constant) or 200% - for 50% pulse). The temp. must be under 70 deg. Celsius. What lens (collimator?) did you manage to focus it with ?
Amazing job! Actually i been thinking about building something similar by myself for quick pcb prototyping. Main thing that bother me is output power of laser diode. What wattage should i use to expose photoresist but not damage it? I was thinking of buying from ebay 100mW 405nm laser module with adjustible focus distance. Is it ok for this purpose? And if it not, how could i limit module power output, simple current limitation would do the trick?
200 мВт вполне достаточно с запасом. Лазер в любом случае подключается через преобразователь (чаще всего регулируемый понижающий преобразователь) на нем и регулируется яркость.Посмотрите на мой комментарий выше, там ссылка на модифицированный 3D принтер с лазером для засветки фоторезиста.
Hi, i am using a 405nm with ca 60mW - 100mW Laserdiode from a XBOX Laser unit.The diode is operated between dark (10mA) and light (90mA) with pulse 50/50 at ca 60 Khz.The lens is a low cost glas lens for 400-500 nm.
+Hobby Elektronik May i ask you to put more details about the lens or a link to buy it from? also can u plz tell us how do you control the laser power? thanks alot
why that slowness?, is not better to setup the laser into a motor that rotates it and impact on the pcb?, placing the laser in the center, you can impact it from 45 degree to the left up to 45 degree to the right, if the laser is enough higher away from the PCB the corrections needed to the image are minimal, it is just like the LASER of a LASER printer works, it don't have the laser itself rotating but has a prism rotating changing the angle where the laser will impact. That way it is a lot faster and it don't needs to move a big head-mass that makes it slow, and the aligment can be perfect always as it is rotating and never stops rotating.
Basically, yes, I've tried. The problem then is the focal point, the distance Laser to Board is not constant. Thus I do not have a uniform laser spot. For the focal point I need an accuracy of about 0.5 mm. Only then I have an equally large laser spot. A complicated optics would otherwise be required.
Nice work! have you tried using this machine with a photoresistive dryfilm applied to a raw board? does it also work? the laser burns out the photoresist out right? or it acts curing the photoresist?
a thousand times thank you for this information! :) saved me from a big frustration. I was going to try it with a photoresist negative film because I didn't know they had a positive film. thanks!
Something like this maybe .. www.ebay.com/itm/100mw-450nm-Blue-Laser-Diode-Module-analog-Lighting-Show-12vdc-/400532051154?hash=item5d419214d2:g:iM8AAOSwrklVOZzQ
Hast Du das Projekt evtl. Irgendwo veröffentlicht und es gibt Die Möglichkeit es nachzubauen.? Kann man Dich beim VERSUCH soetwas auf die Beine zu stellen um Rat fragen?
