A little push?  (CNC,CAM,Milling) �ber newbie

On 5/4/2010 3:55 PM, LuisMa wrote:

Hi, i feel kind of a goof ball asking but

i want to use eagle to have my campus CNC router do my PCBs and ditch the

dreaded and temperamental ferric chloride.

  but i came across lots of terms and information each saying " this is THE

method", can you  please point me in the right direction?

 

1)CAM and CNC milling/routing/drilling is the same, right?

 

2) there is apparently a " mill-outlines" script in EAGLE which generates

drill and mill files. if its that simple , why all the fuss and plethora of

formats?

(excellon, gerber,  G-Code, and a big Etcetera)

 

all the info i've see so far doesnt say why NOT  to use a format/method, i

need to know if its a choice or if it depends on something

 

 

3) cant i just export the drill fill/job and pop the circuit board in and

"presto!" ?

 

First experience with CNC , promise, next post will be actually insightful

and non-newbie .

 

 

excellon and gerber are the formats used to drill and photoplot circuit

boards by lithography. these files and any others in "manufacturing

machine controlling" formats are referred to as "CAM files". they are

not in the same format as native CAD files, hence there is a CAM

processor which essentially reformats the vector drawing commands

according to the output format.

it doesn't really matter which format you use as long as it is correct

for your milling machine and outputs outlines only. since milling a

complex area only requires outlines, while photoplotting or laser

printing requires fills or fills simulated with vectors, there is a

difference in what is output in a mill outline file vs a gerber file

aside from the formatting. the CAM processor is likely used for both

conversions - however, the difference is what kinds of jobs you feed it.

an EAGLE CAM job has sections that correspond to each process/ machine.

for instance the top layer of circuit board etch will typically be made

by plotting the layers top, pads and vias because all are part of the

resist pattern for the top copper layer. this will be output as a single

file.

bottom line: use an outline program ( i think it's a ULP not a script)

to generate the mill outlines for the 2 copper surfaces. fro the holes:

i don't know if you can mill the holes in separate file or include them,

since the depth will change, probably you need a separate control file.

and you should study the use of the CAM processor to get familiar with

the terminology and how it works.

On 5/4/2010 5:55 PM, LuisMa wrote:

Hi, i feel kind of a goof ball asking but

i want to use eagle to have my campus CNC router do my PCBs and ditch the

dreaded and temperamental ferric chloride.

  but i came across lots of terms and information each saying " this is THE

method", can you  please point me in the right direction?

 

1)CAM and CNC milling/routing/drilling is the same, right?

 

2) there is apparently a " mill-outlines" script in EAGLE which generates

drill and mill files. if its that simple , why all the fuss and plethora of

formats?

(excellon, gerber,  G-Code, and a big Etcetera)

 

all the info i've see so far doesnt say why NOT  to use a format/method, i

need to know if its a choice or if it depends on something

 

 

3) cant i just export the drill fill/job and pop the circuit board in and

"presto!" ?

 

First experience with CNC , promise, next post will be actually insightful

and non-newbie .

 

 

Hi Luis,

Gary covered most of your questions very eloquently, and he is correct I

would just like to add a couple of points.

For question 2, the format used is dependent on the machine. Many CNC

machines use the G-code file format so in order to produce you board you

would run the appropriate ulp (There's a good one up on the site

gcode-1). The output file can then be used to program the machine at

your school, afterwards it's pop in circuit board, PUSH BUTTON, then presto!

In all seriousness, the method you use will depend on the capabilities

and design of the machine at your school so you need to figure those

details out first. Once you know what the machine needs you can generate

the appropriate files and generate your board.

Hope this helps,

Jorge Garcia

Cadsoft Computer

http://millpcbs.com for how to use eagle to mill pcbs.

"LuisMa" <luisma.suarez@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:hrq8lp$6fp$1@cheetah.cadsoft.de...

Hi, i feel kind of a goof ball asking but

i want to use eagle to have my campus CNC router do my PCBs and ditch the

dreaded and temperamental ferric chloride.

but i came across lots of terms and information each saying " this is THE

method", can you  please point me in the right direction?

 

1)CAM and CNC milling/routing/drilling is the same, right?

 

2) there is apparently a " mill-outlines" script in EAGLE which generates

drill and mill files. if its that simple , why all the fuss and plethora

of formats?

(excellon, gerber,  G-Code, and a big Etcetera)

 

all the info i've see so far doesnt say why NOT  to use a format/method, i

need to know if its a choice or if it depends on something

 

 

3) cant i just export the drill fill/job and pop the circuit board in and

"presto!" ?

 

First experience with CNC , promise, next post will be actually insightful

and non-newbie .