Milling circuit boards with a CNC 3018
After much frustration, I've managed to mill usuable circuits with my bottom of the line CNC machine. It's a knockoff 3018 I bought off Amazon from VEVOR. It gave me problems for months before one day suddenly deciding to work. To cut circuits I use Candle to control the CNC, FlatCam to create the gcode, and design boards in KiCad. I originally drilled through hole boards with a home-made drill press, but once I learned to use the CNC for drilling I can't go back. It only requires a separate gcode file and a second z-probe homing and the machine takes care of the rest. My machine tends to produce nasty burrs on the edges of all my traces, but a quick sanding removes these easily. It's possible sanding the copper reduces its thickness and current-carrying capability, but it works for now. With some tuning, I can manage 0.25mm traces. 0.5mm traces are usually more reliable, though. A 0.5mm pitch QFP-32 footpr...