Normal Cameo software drags the knife to create the contour cut. Because of this all corners and thin features are deformed. Try github.com/pmonta/gerber2graphtec instead. It splits the pads into individual lines and aligns the knife in the cut direction before performing the cut.

@netfryer

7 жыл бұрын

This is good advice, (using a tangential cutter), but what he got from a silly scrapbooker quality cutter wasn't bad!

@Tusharshukla1992

3 жыл бұрын

Can we cut down to 0.2 mm with the software you mentioned and cameo cutter combined?

@owieccyt

3 жыл бұрын

@@Tusharshukla1992 From my experience no. I was cutting in a 125u mylar foil. Thinner foils may work better. Did you see pmonta.com/blog/2012/12/25/smt-stencil-cutting/ ?

I was also in for some pick and place action!!! Subject of the video was pretty interesting, but now I'm invested in seeing that board finished!

@mikeselectricstuff

7 жыл бұрын

Did shoot some but decided it was a bit boring so didn't keep it- white LEDs on white PCB.

anyone else want to see a time lapse of him placing all those LEDs?

@NickDrudge

7 жыл бұрын

I was certainly hoping there was going to be one at the end!

@paulpillau5858

7 жыл бұрын

I want to see a time lapse of his PICK AND PLACE MACHINE placing all those LEDs...

@NickDrudge

7 жыл бұрын

But wouldn't by hand be more interesting?

@tomy983

7 жыл бұрын

I think he has a pnp, if I remember correctly.

@NickDrudge

7 жыл бұрын

He does, a pretty nice one too. Did a video on it years ago I think.

Nice idea! I have one of the cheap chinese 24 inch vinyl cutters that I use for signage stuff, will probably get one of the sticky mats and give this a go.

@DavidRobertsonUK

7 жыл бұрын

Actually I did get some 100mm wide copper tape on ebay and tried to use it to do hacky prototype PCBs by cutting the traces out on the vinyl cutter. I had problems with the blade ripping the foil to pieces - spent a day fiddling with settings but it only seemed to be practical for big stuff (any traces smaller than 1mm wide got shredded). I have heard of people doing this successfully though so I think it's something to do with the tape. The adhesive was certainly a lot less tacky than normal sign vinyl so that might be why...

What kind of manual solder paste dispenser are you using to patch things up at the end (7:31)?

Do you think a laser cut plastic sheet might work better?

I wanted to see how you were going to finish the leds and board

I thought you used a K40 laser for your stencils Mike ? As for pasting, the biggest difference I could see between your pasting process and mine was that my decorating scrapers have blue rather than green handles !

That's so creative compared to my job.

Really good result I'd say!

please show the finished board at some point.

Have you ever tried one of those cheap laser cutters from ebay? It would be interesting to know how they do with solder mask stencils.

@thomasguilder9288

7 жыл бұрын

rocketman221projects works, with some minor pad size tuning I achieve quite usable stencils down to 0.3mm, depending on type of plastic film.

Isn't there a way to print the solder? With all the 3d printers on the market i would expect the technology exists. It would take a lot of time but this is also time consuming.

@AureliusR

6 жыл бұрын

Actually, he stressed over and over that it WASN'T time consuming. He literally exported the DXF straight into the vinyl cutter software.

+mikeselectricstuff I really hoped you will include at least some video from your pick and place machine doing all the placement.

dude how long didn't take to place all those less???

@mikeselectricstuff

7 жыл бұрын

About 90 mins

Can You use this thing to make a PCB? Cut out the traces and pads, spray the thing with something, then peel off the vinyl and etch it. Kind of curious if it would work

@mikeselectricstuff

7 жыл бұрын

probably but photoetching is probably going to be easier

@jasonrogers6649

7 жыл бұрын

what might be interesting is to replace the knife with a uv laser diode and ....

@di4352

2 жыл бұрын

I tried doing what you said and it worked down to 0603 and SOP packages. I used Silhouette CAMEO 2.

@marekant7776

2 жыл бұрын

@@di4352 0603, that's impressive!

You might want this : github.com/pmonta/gerber2graphtec it'll take gerber and drive the cutter directly while maintaining dimensional accuracy.

@AnalysIR

7 жыл бұрын

+1 on gerber2graphtec. We use the basic GUI on windows with great success..using the 'Portrait' model from Silhouette Other Tips: - We place an A4 page under the sheet fixed with spray adhesive. The tiny cutouts stick to the paper and there is much less damage to the mat underneath. - We use 1mm & 1.25mm transparencies and the cuts seem to be a lot better that Mike's (Maybe your sheets are too thin???) - If some of the small cuts don't fall out, we just use sellotape to remove them. For the price really worth the investment.

@jasonrogers6649

7 жыл бұрын

What cutter do you use? I have an older cricut I have been thinking about using for this for a long time

@AnalysIR

7 жыл бұрын

we use the....Silhouette Portrait...which should cost less than the one used by Mike in the video. I don't know if the cricut is supported...I don't think it is.????

@jasonrogers6649

7 жыл бұрын

Ahh...those are pretty cheap though so could pick one up if the mood strikes me. Thanks.

@kyis1256

7 жыл бұрын

I've been using a Silhouette Portrait, with nice results. Sample: goo.gl/photos/ZKvnSGrVxr8QczTK9

As an aside, I was under the impression that solder paste is perishable and has a short shelf life. Noticing your huge pot of it there, I'm wondering if you really go through that much of it, or if what I had learned about the stuff is mistaken. Thanks!

@mikeselectricstuff

7 жыл бұрын

Varies by brand but generally lasts for several years sealed in fridge. Once opened it can dry out but you can add liquid flux to keep it going as long as it's not gone rock hard. I get through one tub in maybe 6-9 months and rarely scrap more than 10% of the dregs at the end.

@DrTune

7 жыл бұрын

+1 adding liquid flux really brings crusty paste back to life

could you post your cut settings (speeds, pressure, overcut)? I have the same machine standing around but never thought using it for this kind of work. Great video

@mikeselectricstuff

7 жыл бұрын

Didn't change any settings from default - I think it was set for paper. I think it worked better this time with current Silhouette software than the software that came with it a couple of years ago so could be they've made improvements,

that's a lot of LEDs!

Lens on whatever you're using to film the last bit needs a good clean.

@SidneyCritic

7 жыл бұрын

You're not wrong there. I thought my eyes were going crazy, but it was just dirt on the lens.

god bless robots ! )

Thats a lot of work for matrix that is not even RGB.

@AureliusR

6 жыл бұрын

Oh so you'd like to solder it by hand, would you? What a tosser

@royponpon1755

4 жыл бұрын

@@AureliusR I used to hand soldier relay boards for a living. 136 relays X 6 pins each X 12 boards per bin X 5 bins a day. 46,800 connections a day 5 days a week for three years. So, hand soldering that little one off LED board is exactly how I would do it. But I'm not going to attack anybody who doesn't have the skills or patients to do that for looking for a "short cut".

@AureliusR

4 жыл бұрын

@@royponpon1755 Were they through-hole?

@royponpon1755

4 жыл бұрын

@@AureliusR the relays were through hole components being added to a high density double sided SMT PWA. 0603 components and gold plated contacts for squirt pins crammed in between the 0.1" by 0.4" CTC pins of the relays. All the work had to be done under a microscope. Contamination of the gold squirt pin pads during hand soldering would scrap the board. A later assignment for that same company had me hand placing and soldering 0603 ferrite beads into millions of logic probe heads. By comparison, the logic probes were much simpler as I didn't have to deal with any no contact zones in the work area.

@AureliusR

4 жыл бұрын

@@royponpon1755 Why on earth was that done by hand? Automated pick and place has been able to do jobs like that for decades.

2:10 , 1 mil pitch? i think you mean 1mm :D

Sir, it's time to clean the workshop.

LED's are pronounced like "ELL-EE-DEESS" saying it "LEADS" was a mistake I made when I was like 8 years old until someone corrected me that it is an acronmym and is supposed to be pronounced as individual letters NOT as a word. Sorry I just had to tell you it's painful to hear you say it like "Lead" as in a lead pencil.