Homebrew PCBs

I have an LPKF milling machine with cabinet. It is true they are not
cheap and well the tools are not cheap. The results are fantastic but
at a cost. Now that I have gotten use to it it is true I can mill a
few double sided board complete, cut out in an afternoon. It is a real
luxury. I can do tracks down to 0.2mm without thinking about it. 

From reading this group for a while I have been seriously considering
the true merit of the machine. I am wondering if what is most
important about the machine is being able to drill all the holes
nicely and cut the board out properly. From the talk on chemical
processes I am forming a theory that it might be well worth a mix of
processes. It could be quite cheap to set up an etch system to mill
tracks of very fine quality and then use a milling machine to drill
the holes and cut them out. This might actually be a quicker method
and suppose really it is what is done in PCB production.  

What it leads to is the idea that you might be able to get away with a
decent enough machine like the one on ebay or maybe a Fireballcnc
machine and not have the costs of the tooling. It all takes time to
set up, get used to and perfect your methods. Depends if you have the
space for the chemical process. 

Another point is I looked around for methods to acheive plating and
resist layers and these lead you back to chemical processes. So if you
want to make perfect boards that are plated and have solder and screen
resist the milling machine does not represent the absolute solution. 

Trev

Trev