I am not really sure where this channel is going! But the channel name sets the expectation that the hope is both the viewer and I can get something positive out of the experience. If the content interests you please feel free to subscribe and follow along. Have a comment or question, go for it!!
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For ESP32 users you need to make some minor changes to get this code to work. Please see my community post about using ESP32 with my latest Menu. This community post should include what you need to get it to work. Actually a number of different Arduino "supported" microcontrollers often need some special code to set up the EEPROM before using, or special calls to commit the changes. Anyway, the internet will provide the answers you need for your specific microcontroller. Even so, the basic logic behind what is taught in this lesson remains valid across the various microcontrollers. Good luck and happy coding!😊
Nice DIY project but when do we get to see it actually doing some soldering?
@@ProactiveExcellence thanks for watching and thanks for the question. Actually it features in a couple of my later videos, check them out if you're interested.
Awesome as always. I'm using ESP32, so wanted to share what additional steps are required if someone is using ESP32. You have to initialize and formally write, which are in addition to the Arduino methods. The ESP32 has flash memory available (check datasheet for how much - mine is 4MB), which "simulates" EEPROM functionality (that's my understanding - don't take me to the bank on that one). Start with initializing the space which will be used with EEPROM built in library that's available (took me forever to realize that I don't have to find the library EEPROM.h, you just add it because it's one of the default ones). Using the awesome STRUCT method from vid, you need to capture the size of it in bytes [example: int EEPROM_SIZE = sizeof(settings)]. At the beginning of the setup (), you need to add [ EEPROM.begin (EEPROM_SIZE)]. Next, in the save routine, after the EEPROM.put (0,settings), you need to add the line [EEPROM.commit();] - nothing is required in the brackets for commit. That's it. Everything else is the same. Final tip - in case not known, and knowing and seeing how good you are at clean, efficient code - I've learned to use the "Serial.printf" command to write lines which include data and line breaks on the same line. This gets rid of the need for multiple Serial.print and Serial.println statements. For example: [Serial.printf ("[Integer Test] %i /n", settings.Integer_test);]. "/n" is carriage return. I use ChatGPT for the details to find out the other % sign add-ons (%i = integer, %f = floating, %f.1 = floating to one decimal place, etc) but you can do multiples on the same line. Example: [Serial.printf ("[Integer Test] %i /n [Byte Test] %i /n " , settings.Integer_Test, settings.Byte_Test);]. Thanks again for the time you take to do these vids.
Thanks for taking time to leave the info for everyone. Actually I made this video before I really started using the ESP32, so I didn't know about the special issues. However on my latest Menu coding video I had a viewer ask me about using it with ESP32, so I tried it, and noticed the special adaptations needed for the EEPROM. I also have a community post about this.. maybe I will add a pinned comment in this video later to point people to that info too.
Oh, and on the Serial.Printf point, yes I am aware of this function, seems like 101 type of an item for anyone learning C properly (admittedly I never learnt C properly). But in Arduinoland, the implementation is patchy, inconsistent, and in some cases takes up too much memory if you include it in the compile options. I did actually mess around with it for a while, but in the end I found it too frustrating to use. My objective is always to try to keep the code clean, but it's also to try and keep the code as easily transportable as possible between different microcontrollers, and by doing so improving reusability. So for now I live a coding life without adequate access to Serial.PrintF.. If I was only using ESP32 however, I likely would be saying something different.
This is by far the best, most well explained tutorial I have found on KZread for this topic! Fair dinkum, mate!
@@TeslaFactory Actually it's my most viewed video, so I guess it is a good fit for some people. But taking over 2-years just to get 20K views, plainly indicates that other similar videos must do a far better job for a wider audience. It is what it is! Anyway, I'm always happy to hear that it was useful to someone. So thanks for taking the time to comment!
Great video
@@stephanc7192 Hey thanks! I am glad you found it useful 😃
What are we considering a decent power laser? I have a 3w 405nm laser that I can use to engrave things I suspect that is enough?
@@Segphalt if that's a real 3W optical power laser, it should be enough to remove the resin. Maybe a little weak to cut the board, but you could do that a different way.
Waiting for the ultimate solution to your problem or the final solution?
@@jaggerneill1404 Check my newest video for more insights. There is never a "final" solution of course. I will continually try to find ways to improve my methods, or even try totally different methods. Thanks for the comment!
Silkscreen is in an Indian PCB factory video. Also you can CNC the resin off in the areas you want to use as pads and leave the copper. This is after then resin is cured over all of the PCB side. There is a video of someone doing that method. They CNC'ed both sides and did the holes. They then did the vias. There are two good ways of doing the vias. Then the tin bath to protect to copper. You can do this after the resin coating. This means just the pads are tinned. Second method: Silkscreen for the resin coating and then used toner on a transparent A4 sheet to block the UV light in the areas they didnt want cured. They printed the pattern twice and stacked both on top of each other. Then placed on top of the resin coating and applied the UV light.
I am sure there are many videos on KZread featuring various different methods for this, there are about 5 videos on the topic on my channel alone! Check them out if you are interested. Thanks for the comment.
@@ForOurGood I will watch all your videos. About to try and do this myself. I'm trying the CNC method. Using the silk screen to apply the ink and a laser printer to create a mask for the UV light. Via's will use rivets for double sided boards. After the uncured ink is removed from the pads. Then tinning liquid on the pads only. Just trying to avoid all the chemicals if I can. This is being tried at home. All your's and others videos are making this possible.
@@GodKitty677 Good luck!
Excellent PCB tutorial
Thanks so much 🙏
I'm just starting electronics, this look perfect and promising.
Why don't you install the laser and spindle at the same time so the offset between them is constant, then it's a lot less alignment.
Originally when I first started this series I did give it serious thought, but did not follow through in the end. Without a doubt, it would save some time assuming the relationship would reliably remain precisely locked. But, likely just adjusting the height of the spindle in the mount will knock this out of whack (I use the CNC for various things, not just making PCB's). Physically having them both mounted at the same time will also likely affect the physics of the CNC3018, and that may affect the precision, and naturally the usable range will be reduced, and then we also have a risk of precision errors in the lead screw affecting the result (as we would be working in different areas of the lead screw for laser vs spindle) Phew.. actually there were more concerns than I remembered, some of them likely are not a concern at all, but only testing would confirm that. Anyway, I really like the idea of making the reference marker for a given job, so I would be making that in any case. This provides a way to precisely recover the position should your controller lose its marbles or something else that causes you to lose position. It also provides a way to check with confidence that your alignment is correct, before you start doing the actual work.. so peace of mind and all that. Actually the alignment process is not the difficult part, really it is physically fiddling around, swapping between laser and spindle, that would be the primary benefit of having them co-mounted. Sorry for the waffling! 😁
Amazing tutorial, I'm glad you are highlighting the importance of the correct version of FlatCAM etc. as it wouldn't be obvious for someone new that they are very different. Also what's going on with the wiggly track snaking under R8? :D
Yep, the devil's in the details as they say. Some people will think video goes into too much detail, but I know from experience, that it is hard to put this puzzle together when your starting from zero. BTW: The track is squiggly to tune it to an exact length because.. nah.. just kidding, actually the resistor is at a weird angle and I wanted to leave room for the ground plane to sneak through.. sadly I am still a nube when it comes to KiCad, and could not figure out how to freely set the angle of the track to match with the resistor.. Do you know how?? Thanks for taking the time to comment.
It seems like a silk screen might only be bragging rights: if you're creating your own boards, you have enough to know what every component is!! Great process though! Thank you!
Glad you liked it, and thanks for taking the time to leave the comment.
Great job, thanks a lot for doing such long and detailed video with no ad-crap! Just a side note: From my experience, blue laser doesn't do really well on white. The darker the better! Even lighter vs darker masking tape makes a difference. And if I simply paint it with black sharpie - end result is way better. You were complaining on laser sometimes not being able to start burning glossy white solder mask film.. That should be exactly the case. I think simply switching to darker colors would save a lot of frustration + give you much larger margin for possible error. I.e. black for solder mask, something darker for silkscreen and dark red or black film for stencil. But yeah, you'll have to re-do all your speed/power settings :)
I am glad you liked the video, it seems that you are one of the few people who noticed I turned the ads off.. weird. I did a lot of testing in an earlier video in my series, check that out if you missed it, and thankfully found this green resin burns extremely reliably. But you are correct however, burning anything very shiny, glossy or translucent will not burn with this laser. In this case, using a dark coating or sanding the surface is the only way to get a reliable burn. I have not had trouble with burning normal white paper however, so I don't think the colour is the main problem, more so the reflectivity or transparency appears to be the culprit. I have not tested burning white UV resin yet, but I do plan to try to do that in the future. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and leaving some suggestions, people sharing their experiences have helped me a lot with this project.
I wanted to ask what you used to measure the accuracy of the lines at 1:27? Did you just print it using transparent paper and a template? If so, do you still have the template on hand? I would like to try using your method. Thank you.
Hi there! Thanks for your question. This is something I purchased from Amazon, it is a credit card sized device intended to be used to measure cracks in concrete. I am not sure if Amazon sells this in other countries. It works ok, but at the smaller sizes, the print is not so clean, and it's hard to measure with. I would actually prefer to find something better. There are a lot of episodes about this PCB making process on this channel, check them out if you have the time.
Thank You
You're very welcome!
I also use UGS but lately I've been trying CNC3D Commander which is proving to be pretty good so far.
Actually, I tried a couple of others that people suggested, but ended up sticking with UGS for now, it's actually not all that bad taking everything into account. Maybe if I get motivated I will try some others at some point in the future.
Great upgrade overall, I have a Genmitsu 3020 pro max and am debating weather or not to upgrade to a 3040 with an extension kit, not cheap but my main problem is time. Measuring up for what I need it would be half the price getting things rom china but with the delays involved sending to Europe. I'm still on the fence as to which way to go, your videos have been a great help to see what exactly is involved, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the comment! I am glad to hear the video might be of some help. Good luck with your rebuild!
As a suggestion try using Cobalt HSS cutting tools rather than carbide inserts, they work very well on most materials when kept sharp(cheap diamond stones). The main problem with carbide insert tooling is the need to be used hard for best results and are not really suited for the power and rigidity of most mini lathes other than some of the special aluminium inserts but even so the lathe is not up to it, my lathe is 1.5hp and I usually get better results with HSS, having said that for parting I swear by the inset tools. Another thing about HSS is you can just buy a pack of blanks and make your own on a normal bench grinder and final polish with a fine diamond sharpening stone. Enjoying the series.
Actually I use self-ground HSS but a lot, because they give a better finish and often better form factor. You can see them in use in some later videos. But, I still use those cheap carbide inserts too when I am being lazy, the finish is a compromise, but they are pretty convenient.
Wow, nice display options and possible settings. Not knowing much at all about programming puts me off doing this sort of Mod.
Never too late to learn if you have an interest.
I'm so surprized many more people are not watching and hitting the like as mini lathes are very popular nowadays.
Don't get me started.....
I think I would have inverted the colours on the emergency stop switch, Red is always the emergency stop on any machine worldwide, any other colour can be to switch on usually green or black but yellow would do fine, someone might try to push the red button(for all its printed with ON on it) to stop the machine and the few seconds it takes to realize the mistake its too late, just an idea.
Unfortunately the yellow ABS I had would not print the center bit, so this is what you get. Thankfully I am the only person who uses this, and my human instincts just have me fist slamming the button in emergencies, I don't seem to have much time to check the colour in such cases.
When routing round a template with a bearing guide, round the outside its better to go anticlockwise and on an inside, like in a hole, go clockwise, This means you are always driving the cutter into fresh metal/wood and its pushing back against you so you have control, the other way the blade can dig in and pull the router out of control, look up climb milling vs conventional milling to explain better, you get a better finish too. Nice project.
Didn't notice I was going the wrong way, usually I am pretty careful about that. Thankfully it worked out ok.
Thanks for sharing this project and your process. I enjoy seeing the transformation a basic tool can go through with a bit of effort and love.
Glad you liked it, and thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Love the build but the only thing i'm screaming at my monitor about is you putting a gloved hand in the lathe there. Difference between getting cut and losing your hand if the glove gets caught is pretty big. Happens in a blink of an eye. Getting a little too comfortable around the spinning bits and they are not our friends. Machines don't care. I know it's a nag, but safety up bro. Just subbed and looking forward to the rest of your videos! Brilliant mod with the boroscope cam on the boring bar. Haven't seen that before.
Thanks for watching and thanks for the nag! BTW: How did you find this video?
@@ForOurGood Hackaday of course! :)
@@youtubasoarus I never even knew... Thanks for letting me know!
Video finally arrived. Hope to see you try with galvo laser one day. CNC laser has very low acceleration which make burning very uneven. I got exhausted with this process when burning all of my small pads so I quit and try with the mask instead. Probably high acceleration laser like galvo or at least coreXY klipper laser might have enough acceleration to encounter that
I can pretty conclusively say that acceleration does not play a notable role when using this process. I was in fact worried about that given the CNC3018 with its cheap lead screw accelerates pretty slowly. Undoubtably there is minor affect, but it is not noticeable from my experience. The key issues about clearing the resin from the pads without burning them off the board, comes down to a very simple calculation. That is how much “heat over time” you inject into the pad, and how much “heat over time” the pad can dissipate. If you add far more heat than the pad can dissipate in a given timeframe, then that will result in enough heat build up to eventually burn the substrate (And on top of all that, of course you’ll always need enough laser power to clear the resin). The best solution I have found is to use active cooling, such as air-assist, by doing that you can stop the pad from building up too much heat, meaning you can get away with a much higher power level that allows you to clear all pads with a single power setting. If you do not have air-assist, then the only other option is to break up the pads into different groups/jobs, applying an appropriate power level, depending on how well you expect them to be able to dissipate/cope with heat. Naturally this requires experience and good judgement to get this right, that is why I recommend air-assist as demonstrated in this video. Thanks for your comment and I hope you enjoy the video.
@@ForOurGoodif so then that's very different from my result. I got full blast of air assist on all the time but can still see very clearly that the corners will get burned much more than s straight line. There are some settings to help even out the laser power but then it will reduce the power by a lot and still somehow doesn't get that consistency. There is one more thing is that if I don't align the laser well enough and some how burn into the resin area beneath then 100% guarantee that the pads will peel off. Those got me so frustrated with the laser so I developed my own process using printed light mask to cure the solder mask. I've been having consistent results since then and much simpler process and less tedious. Hopefully I can share it some days but I'm quite lazy with making videos and busy with out projects also. But I'm very glad that you succeed with your process. I hope more people will get into this so someone will try to fix FlatCAM. 😅
@@TinNguyen-uu2tr If the acceleration is that slow, then there must be a problem with your settings of your CNC (mine is 500mm/sec/sec for all axis) Also, using good FlatCAM settings is pretty critical, and that's why I discussed in detail in this video. Finally, maintaining perfect alignment is also critical, which is why I came up with the new alignment method which is working very good (alignment pins just don't provide enough precision). Finally, you can't have the laser set too hot, there is a limit to how much air assist can help. In any case, I am glad you came up with a process that is working for you, I am very much looking forward to your video 👍😁
I've been mulling over your process and how I could apply various aspects to my own half-baked one (it's similar to your old process), and I was wondering if you'd experimented with using your "Silkscreen process" on the main PCB mask? In theory, it would make cleaning the pads much quicker and easier with much less elbow grease needed - the only downside I can think of is the laser curing process would take a lot longer. Btw, Unexpected maker (another Aussie) has a really nice "reflow master" kit that makes creating your own reflow oven really simple. I made one some time ago - it has so many additional uses with the "bake" mode, plus the ability to run proper solder reflow temp curves.
After seeing the great results of the silkscreen, I also had various ideas about how I could apply this for different purposes, maybe even trying to set the positive etch pattern with it. Setting the resin around the pads should also be plausible. Naturally, I would need to switch to the 10sec Mechanic resin for everything, and of course this is going to mean much much longer jobs (although it may be possible for it to be faster if the resin is not a couple of years old, like mine is). Then there is the question as to if the result would be cleaner using an expose method vs the burn method, and how reliable/consistent that might be given the expose method is a little more finicky, compared to burn method that just works and gives a consistent result every single time. For a silkscreen, +/- 10% thickness variation does not make a big difference, just as long as you can get it to stick, but a for a etch resist or pad clearing operation, this could be a real problem when working with small stuff. I also have other ideas about ways to clear the pads by laying something down in advance that could easily be removed later, along with any resin on top, but this has not progress beyond the thinking stage at this time, I generally think this might be a non-starter. For now, I am super happy with the results I am getting with the current process, and I probably make it look harder to do than it actually is, this is mainly because I had a lot of bad experiences before finally getting to the point where it actually works well. I still have a few improvements to my process in mind, but mostly minor tweaks to materials, tools and methods. Even so, I think at some point I will experiment with the resin expose method more, at least to test my assumptions, and see if this might actually be something practical/possible/worthwhile to do more with. As for the oven, I did actually think about doing something like that for this video, but in the end, I deemed it not a pressing concern, that old Panasonic clothes iron is doing what I need it to do for now. Maybe one day!
@@ForOurGood Cool, I figured you'd likely at least thought about it. Btw, what power is your laser? I've got a dinky little 5w laser that is essentially useless for anything other than marking things or exposing resin, and I really need to find a better one.
The laser I am using is a “LaserTree Gold 450nm 40W-Pro 12V 20mm Fixed Focus Laser”, apparently it puts out less than 10 watts of optical power in reality. I highly recommend getting one with an air assist nozzle.
@@ForOurGood Cheers, I'll have a look for a similar unit.
Could you show all the finished code at once? because I watched the entire video and you went back and forth many times and modified many things and I missed a lot😃
Hi Giovanni, I am sorry you have some trouble, that is a part of learning, but please be assurred that many other people have confirmed the menu works fine. I don't release the code intentionally, to increase the chance you will learn more by doing, and solving the problems yourself. I suggest you follow the video step by step, confirming that the results you are getting at each step exactly match what I am demonstrating, and if at any point it does not match, then focus on that area, and see if you can solve the problem. Writing code is not always fun, but it can be rewarding when you understand and get things to work as you expected. Good luck!
lol, it’s taken me a quite while to get through this video, so much excellent information and great ideas. Regarding the ability to super easily to the pads, have you tried tinning them with liquid tin? I use MG Chemicals Liquid Tin - it’s not cheap, but lasts a really long time. I tin my board before I do anything else. Btw I get it from eBay here in Australia.
Just in case you are not taking the piss, and simply missed the section, I do talk about this at 2:24:30 Glad you liked the video! 😁 I am feeling pretty buggered after making that one.
@ForOurGood I managed to comment just before I got to you mentioning liquid tin, so that’s on me for jumping the gun. 🤦🏼♂️ no piss was harmed in the making of my comment. 😜
@ForOurGood I’m not surprised you are exhausted after that movie length video, I felt tired after making my latest 15 minute video. 🤦🏼♂️
@@ForOurGood I just got to the end, your silk screen imo looks better than the manufactured PCB silk screen. Iirc the cheaper boards use inkjet printing.
Very nice, I’ll have to try the silkscreen, looks great. I have an old scratch milling video with a similar title, hopefully it doesn’t break KZread :). Yours looks way better of course, though the scratch milling is one step (only milling). Need to think about the silkscreening for that process, great tips. Love the dedication to the process you’ve shown, and I have an inkling of what all that involves!
Btw, you should submit this to hackaday if you haven’t, always pcb makers lurking there :)
The title is unlikely to help much, at best my videos top out at about 20K after a few years, worst cast a couple of hundred views. Basically, KZread does not promote my videos in any sensible way, I laugh when I see my videos continuously recommended on things like Polish Opera videos, then KZread Studio gives advice that the poor click rate is because my thumbnails suck... yeah right.. The conspiracy theorist in me makes me want to say this is because I disabled ads for all my videos, but KZread says its policy is that this makes no difference, so it likely is because my videos are not so great after all. Anyway, impressions for this video have already dropped to zero after 5 days. (Rant over). BTW, I originally got interested again in making PCB’s when I saw a Wegstr video, and was fully expecting to be milling PCB’s, and in my second episode made a sincere effort to do just that. But milling PCB’s on my 3018 just was just not doing it for me, so I quickly decided to try a different path. Again, likely due to some bias, I really like this process, and at least comes to etching an amazing result, it’s just so damn reliable and stupid proof. Once you take the mechanical interaction out between the CNC and the PCB, it totally transforms what a cheap CNC is capable of delivering. As a contrast, a Wegstr PCB mill is selling for $3.7K shipped, for me that does not seem like the typical DIY’er spend, maybe it is ok for some people. Let me know how you go with the silkscreen, and thanks for the comment!
@@robindebreuil Thanks for the advice, but I am not so good at self-promotion, I just throw it out there and see what happens. I don’t even bother doing the obligatory beg for likes or subscriptions in my videos anymore.
@@ForOurGood Ha yeah, right there with you, promotion is unpleasant work. The Wegstr machine seems amazing, but yeah, different thing. I’m working towards a small dedicated machine for simple PCBs. There are so many ways to remove copper, it makes for an interesting obsession. Very inspired by your dedication to the craft here, thanks for sharing it in such a detailed manner.
great video. I watched the entire thing in two sittings. On the solder stencil; I've had recent luck using .15mm plastic sheet that I spray painted matte black before the laser cut. Makes a larger, washable stencil that I can tape down when batching PCBs. Adding a few "mouse-bites" around the edges of oddly shaped PCBs makes them so much easier to remove from the parent material. Great video. I cant imagine how many hours you have in the production.
Yeah, sorry for the long video, but it seems tutorials do much better if they are not split up. Even so, I am glad you found it interesting. I did actually try using plastic sheet, but I could not get a clean cut... more of a melty twisty result... I didn't use matte black paint, but I did try a matt black paint pen if I remember correctly. The feature size also is a challenge, with a paper label I could barely eek out the 0.2mm width required for the QFN20 package, so I sort of came to the conclusion that trying to do that with plastic sheet would simply be futile. What sort of resolution are you getting? Do you know what type fo plastic the sheet is made of? Currently, I am usually only doing one or two PCB's with a given stencil, so it is not really a big deal if it is not reusable (of course that would be nice if it was reusable). What is more of a concern, is getting the correct thickness (currently good), nice clean edges (currently not great), smooth surface (currently not really), required resolution (currently passable) and relatively sturdy (currently sturdy enough for a couple of uses, but not really sturdy as such) In know the locating of the stencil, is doable without an adhesive backing, have seen this in another persons video, so I am not super worried about that aspect either way. Thanks for taking the time to comment and provide some info too!
Just noticed your "mouse-bites" point, not sure why I missed it first read, but I will try to keep that in mind, thanks! As for amount of hours in production.. yep, don't want to think about it much, especially because I already know the video will not really get that many views. But they say, about an hour per minute, is what it takes just to properly edit a KZread video.... but that excludes everything else
@@ForOurGood The first plastic stencil I made was from the diffuser sheet from a cracked LCD monitor. Since then I have used old school transparency sheets made for laser printers. I found two lower power cuts are better than one high power. Also I cut the outline only and not the field area.
@@mitchellhw2006 Got it, thanks! I will see if I can find something similar and give it a go. I actually used to use those laser printer transparencies back in the 90's when I was making PCB's back then, I guess it makes sense that they are somewhat heat tolerant.
i found it very helpful but had trouble reading off the screen...the code for me keeps flashing so fast so something is wrong with the millis, unsure if i have it wrong...would you have a copy of the code that i can compare against
You can find the code as a response to one of the older comments below! Hope that helps.
@@ForOurGood Thank you, it must have been a syntax error. question, how can i get the program to do something base on the screen option it landed...i'm rather new to this. so how would the program know the choice the user made..i want to be able to execute code based on let's say the submenu choice 1?
Sorry, I don't think I have a helpful answer to this question. For the very basics, maybe some other channels have a better video, there are also many other good resources available out there to learn from. I hope you succeed in what you are trying to do!
I always wanted to try make my own PCB,my problem that I never did learn about it,but I always know what I want and how I want at basics level. I mean some examples: I want to make a led panel I know I want to use 12v dc source and 3v leds. Or I wanted to make last time a mop robot. I can do the coding and I know all the accessories I need with ardunio, but obviously is to much wire,so I thought make a beautiful pcb board in Fushion 360 with connectors and everything. My problem thst I don't know when to use and which type ,diode,resistors,capacitors, transistors etcetera. I was trying to looking for a pcb design program like at led panel example I give the input volt 12v and the amount of led I want to use and the program help me out what I have to use between them to don't get overcurrent etcetera.
There are plenty of resources out there if you want to learn electronic. You don’t need to learn absolutely everything to be able to start making your own PCB’s. Start small, learn the very basics, and do some testing to see if what you learnt makes sense with the results you get. Each small piece of knowledge is a building block you can use to improve your skills as you go, and in this way, it is very similar to learning writing code. I started writing code at the age of 12, but I did not start doing anything with electronics until age 17, but learning code helps you with structural thinking, and that helped allot when learning electronics. Good luck!
You can speed up the curing of the UV resin with hot air. I've been finding that my resin can cure in less then a minute with hot air...
Seems I am a little late to the game with regards to pre-baking UV resin before exposure, but it does not exactly seem to be common practice either. Actually, just yesterday I noticed on an Ali-Express store with the Mechanic UV resin, a set on instructions indicating both pre & post baking as a part of the process (the instructions are really not that clear however, and they talk about baking times of 50~60mins for each, which seems excessive). Unfortunately, I see no such similar instruction for the green WNB UV resin I am using. I also didn’t see a specific improvement in curing time with the Mechanic UV resin after baking, even though the viewer who commented indicated instant curing was achievable. The clear benefit I did get was a quality improvement, which in that case is the most critical thing anyway. It is possible that either my testing was not thorough enough, or my UV resin has just aged poorly (it is about 2 years old, and Mechanic UV resin is stated as a 12-month shelf life) Even so, I was already thinking to give pre-baking a try with my green WNB UV resin, so I will likely do that next time, and see how it affects the curing time (30mins is way too long). Don’t think I will be hitting with a heat gun however, that would likely disturb the finish, so I will probably try the hotplate, basically using a similar method to what I am already doing with the Mechanic UV resin. Would be nice to get the time to less than 15mins in total, otherwise it is probably not worth the extra messing around. Thanks for the comment!
Hello, thank you for the video, it would be nice to have a low-budget version of this series.
The process is actually relatively cheap, considering the end results that can be achieved. If you are smart with the purchases, I expect you could get started for around about $300USD. You also need to keep in mind that the CNC is a multi-functional device, and you can use it for things beyond just making simple PCB’s. Thanks for the comment!
I’m only 17 mins into the video (great explanations), and I just wanted to discuss the board origin issue. Have you trying moving it in KiCad to the button left corner of the work area? I’ve never had any issues in FlatCam since doing this.
I tried for a while, and in the end gave up. Maybe I was doing it wrong or something. Another viewer also left a comment about how to do this, so I will give it another go next time!
Sorry, ignore what I said before. I can't remember if I specifically tried moving to the bottom left, I sort of think so. I did move it around a bit and tried a few things. I will try bottom left next time.
@@ForOurGood I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, so you'll figure it out, I'm sure. That said, I haven't tried it in KiCad v8 yet, but in v7 it was straightforward.
@@ForOurGood Bottom left gives you a positive X and Y Axis, which makes things simpler for sure. :)
how well are the solder joints? cause resin looks to be quite thick...
There are some pretty close up shots at the end, so you can judge for yourself. From what I am seeing, they look and work very well. I have also been using similar boards, however made with my older process, for a number of years now without a problem. Thanks for the question!
@@ForOurGood good to hear. the result looks quite good, it just looks like there's a very high layer of resin. But if it works out, it works out :D I just use black spray paint to cover the board and use the same 3018 with the laser it came with. But i only use it for emergency boards... so i'm not very picky :D
@@Error404_Handle I think the magnification method I use makes it seem thicker than it really is. Laying down the resin with the silkscreen results in a super thin layer in reality, and even with 2 layers it is still pretty thin.
@@ForOurGood that and maybe the sharp angle that's left after the laser burns the resin off. Definitely could be the reason why it looks so thick. But great job either way.
Always watching every video, great work you should have a ton of subscribes!
Thanks for watching & the nice comment! 😉 You are clearly one of the lucky few to have somehow connected my channel, because I don’t get much love from KZread, that is for sure... Clearly I am doing something wrong.... 😐 And just for a laugh, KZread just yesterday recommended me to watch a 3-year old video on how to make PCBs, this is a 10 minute video which shows how to make PCB’s just like I was making them back in 1993.. it has 1.4million views... so who ever said life is fair!
Fantastic work! The boards came out really good. Thanks for taking the time to share this with us. What power is your laser? Is there any reason why you didn't cut out the pcb when you engrave the components on the back of the board?
The laser I am using is a “LaserTree Gold 450nm 40W-Pro 12V 20mm Fixed Focus Laser”, apparently it puts out less than 10 watts of optical power in reality. I highly recommend getting one with an air assist nozzle. Sorry, I am not sure I understand your question regarding the PCB cutout. The laser is not powerful enough to cut through the central glass fibers of the board, which is why I need to laser cut on both sides of the board. I show cutting the front of the board at timestamp (1:49:40), and the rear of the board at timestamp (2:08:25). The final step is to snap it out, breaking the central glass fibers, as shown in timestamp (2:35:10) Thanks for the comment!
@@ForOurGood Flip, sorry I somehow missed you cutting the outline on back of the board. Thats what I was asking about. Thanks for the info. I have a creality 10W (with air assist) upgrade kit fitted to my ender 3 v2 neo. So hopefully, following your steps I should be able to acheive the same. I thought my laser might be too weak to do this. Thanks again.
@@arthureschner9319 no worries, the video is pretty long, so not surprising if people miss bits here and there. Anyway, sounds like your laser will do the job, so good luck with that 👍
I have not finished watching the video but let me start by appreciating the effort that you have put into this. Thank you
You are very welcome, thanks for the comment!
Yes outstanding as usual from F.O.G. Been looking forward to this since the teaser shots of the board, looks great. The silk screen is incredibly clean. I was thinking there may be something else to use for your stencil material but this clearly works for you so all good and seems to accept a good amount of paste with the two layer thickness. Thank you for the exceptionally detailed and time consuming to make video a great addition for makers. Ps I think you were generous most hobbyists I know go for the bodge wires on the first batch of board mistakes (after much swearing) never mind ordering second set haha
Ha Ha, yep, I reckon your probably right, most people will just live with their mistakes after the first order, it’s gotta be pretty disappointing😐. Personally, I could not stomach the stress of getting it wrong (or likely getting it wrong), and then having to live with it, which is part of the reason I have never taken the step of ordering a board from China myself 😊. Actually, even in a professional environment, I could rarely justify going more than one revision before needing to put a board into the required operation (my requirements were never mass production however, max 100 or so boards). The great thing about surface mount, is that with the help of the hotplate, it is super easy and fast to reuse components, so that definitely takes the sting out of the idea of having to redo a DIY PCB too. Using my new process, I honestly believe I would be inclined to do the necessary iterations to at least get the circuit design and track layout of the PCB correct. Thanks as always for the comment and support!
In KiCAD you can control the export and plot origin by placing a "Drill/Place File Origin" mark wherever you want the (0,0) origin to be on your board. Simply select Place->Drill/Place File Origin from the Place menu and then left click where you want the origin to be. Then when you export/plot make sure the appropriate tick box is checked to force the output to be referenced to that (0,0) point.
I did mess around with that for a while, but failed to get it to work. It's more than likely that I checked the wrong box or something. Next time I make a PCB, I will be sure to give it another try. Thanks!
@@ForOurGood First of all, and I should of said this before, but thank you for all the effort you put into your method and for documenting the process as well as your journey to get there. The end result is very impressive and is nearly indistinguishable from purchased boards. I personally made my first pcb over 40 years ago using pre-sensitize coper clad boards and photocopies of artwork on overhead transparency papers while exposing them to sunlight. Since then, I've tried lots of different methods, including toner transfer, resist pen plotting, and isolation milling. All to varying degrees of success, and at this point I've all but given in to just using fast turnaround Chinese vendors. Your method has rekindled my desire to produce my own pcbs for first article prototyping and same day iteration testing, as such I would be most interested in learning the optical power of your laser module. I believe this is just the excuse that I needed to justify adding a laser to my CNC machine. With regards to the origin issue, the tic box you are looking for is in the upper right quadrant of the plot dialog and is labeled "Use drill/place file origin".
Wow, 40 years ago, I did my first probably in 1991, though I have probably had a 15 or so year hiatus before my latest attempts were started, either way, you have got me beat! I am glad to hear that the video might actually stimulate someone to get back into the hobby, so thanks for the comment! The laser I am using is a “LaserTree Gold 450nm 40W-Pro 12V 20mm Fixed Focus Laser”, apparently it puts out less than 10 watts of optical power in reality. I bought mine a couple of years back on Ali-Express, so it is likely this exact model is not sold now, but I am sure you will find something similar, though I do recommend you buy one with an air assist nozzle included, even if you don’t plan to use it immediately.
Very interesting process. I've been making my own PCBs for the past 20 years using UV reactive paint and an exposure mask made with clear overhead projector sheets. I typically use bare copper print, but if I need some protection, I use clear PCB varnish or even nail polish. Maybe it's time for an upgrade after 20 years. 😋
Give it a try! I guarantee you will be surprised by the results. Thanks for the comment!
wow creating via on the pcb