Hello Everyone!
I just got my license of eagle working and for starters i thought i would generate a simple breakout board for the supercaps that i intend to use. In my free time i have been using my KNK Zing (a small CNC cutter) and experimenting.
Here is a video of the Zing cutting (using a diamond tipped stylus to engrave) (sorry, just shot on camera phone)
This was the result (after several passes the kerf grew rather thick):
In the end i only have a small selection of PC board, and unfortunately the copper on this board is a bit thick for the stylus to cut through. so my results were a bit dis-heartening. I then attempted to use adhesive Vinyl:
Conceptually, i would apply the Vinyl and cut it (as shown above). Then by peeling back the areas i did not want i could use an etchant to dissolve the unwanted copper.
The blade offset refers to the cutting edge relative to the head of the tool. The cutting edge essentially drags, with these little cutters we have to enter in a blade offset so that the cutting head can over-emphasis corners and the blade truely produces a sharp corner. Unfortunately in the sample above i did not have my offset quite calibrated, so the thin features are a bit deformed and the corners are not nearly as nice as i would like them.
I believe that this will probably be the way i proceed when making boards, however i am still waiting to receive my copper Etchant which was on back-order.
I will keep you informed as i make more progress! Thanks for reading
Alex
P.S. Has anyone else had a TON of trouble working with the blog posting interface. I have used google chrome and internet explorer and it seems that my photos keep getting overwritten after i add more. It takes me 20-30 minutes just to get it straightened out every time. Sometimes i can drag-and-drop and sometimes i use the "insert photo" button, but it happens to me either way.