Homebrew PCBs

I am in the process of designing/building my own CNC driller/milling 
machine now. I have just completed the framework and now waiting on 
steppers and lead screws for it. I use a Jameco drill press in the 
mean time and it works pretty good except the drill press itself is 
a pain in the butt to get accurate 100% of the time. I know that 
this will end up costing me over $300 to build right but I think its 
worth it for the experience, fun of building and knowledge I will 
gain. Plus the bonus is the milling part, since I can etch boards 
that way instead of the chemicals all the time. And for an added 
benefit, my wife is into wooden crafts and things and this would 
help her out with engraving...so I get no problems there. 

Just my 2 cents..



--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Philip Pemberton 
<philpem@d...> wrote:
> In message <cngfrj+53tr@e...>
>           "cybermace5" <cybermace5@y...> wrote:
> 
> > A Dremel press works, though you really need to make sure your 
rotary
> > tool has good bearings up front. Any wobbling or vibration will
> > eventually snap a drill.
> 
> Don't I know it... I've got an Expo Reliant Minidrill. It's not 
too bad, but
> the bearings are lousy. If you run it at any speed, you can see the
> unevenness in its motion - the drill bit seems to "bob" from side 
to side.
> This in turn causes the bit to vibrate, then the drill and stand, 
then you
> get a horrible noise as the stand starts resonating, then 
finally.. boom.
> 
> I really need a new drill - anyone got any suggestions? I'm 
thinking about
> getting an Expo Zircon primarily because I've already got a stand 
that fits
> it. The specs are on <http://www.expotools.com/> (IIRC) if anyone's
> interested.
> 
> > Of course you can be like me, and build a little
> > CNC drill, but after putting in the required materials, funds, 
and
> > time a $150 tool seems like a great deal.
> 
> I was going to build a CNC myself, but getting the parts seems to 
be the hard
> bit.. that and actually designing the thing.
> 
> Later.
> -- 
> Phil.                              | Acorn Risc PC600 Mk3, SA202, 
64MB, 6GB,
> philpem@p...              | ViewFinder, 10BaseT Ethernet, 2-slice,
> http://www.philpem.me.uk/          | 48xCD, ARCINv6c IDE, SCSI
> ... NetWare does not have bugs, it has "Undocumented enhancements"