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<font face="Comic Sans MS">I see surplus training mills fairly
often. Many are Sherlines. Being older they have outdated
stepper drivers. Good news is 4 axis stepper controllers are
going real cheap these days so if you can find <br>
the hardware you can cheaply upgrade the electronics. I did it
and lucked out by buying what was called by the seller an engraver
machine. I got the Sherline mill/lathe for $100 and a 4 axis
driver board for under a $100. I stripped out the old
electronics, which where some 90's error nightmare requiring a
special card IIRC 8bit ASA for DOS! I ran it on 2 12 volt
batteries in series for a while, but finally paid $25 for a 24
volt supply. Until I figured it out it was a bit inaccurate. It
don't have a ball screw so you have to mess with the gibes and
adjust a thrust bearing on the drive nuts, but once I got the hang
of it I can hold +/- .002" real easy, closer if I take my time. <br>
<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Comic Sans MS"><font face="Comic Sans MS">I wonder what
software you would use? I might want to try that on my CNC.
Most of the controllers accept G codes, the newer ones USB, but
the cheaper ones use a parallel port.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</font>Terry Fox wrote on 12/30/2015 11:53 PM:
<blockquote type="cite">Hey guys,
<br>
I am considering building or maybe buying an inexpensive CNC
milling machine that can make circuit boards, as a 2016
project. I often design stuff, and then hand build a prototype
using point-to-point soldering. It's getting old, and doing
grounds is not simple - even though I have a few techniques for
that.
<br>
<br>
I've seen the prices of PC milling machines coming down, but I
thought that I would try my hand at building one instead. With
my exposure to 3D printers, and reading up on a few homebrew CNC
machines and plans, I believe that I can build one that can do
through-hole and simple SMT devices, down to about 10 mil or so
traces/isolation runs. For smaller parts, I would put the parts
on small commercial chip carriers, and add those to the layout.
I don't need a huge 4x8ft mill, a smaller desktop unit would be
fine.
<br>
<br>
Has anyone built a CNC milling machine that can SUCCESSFULLY do
PC boards? If so, what and how much? Can it do double-sided
(lining up both sides)? I plan to add many through-holes for
vias between layers.
<br>
<br>
73, & Happy New Year!!
<br>
Terry, N4TLF
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</font>
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