CAM software to let you mill PCBs with your CNC machine.

[6666]

Is this the future ?

https://carbide3d.com/copper/

[6666]

Another idea

Using a diode laser to etch a PCB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8zkrFdetjk&fbclid=IwAR1qGhlQ0LJcqCEEND7fz AtEIdKRmCyrZqu5ZOOT5xG85I963mornZU_Yq0

[Altra]

Is this the future ?

https://carbide3d.com/copper/

I have been milling pcb's for a number of years with great success. It has limitations when it comes to surface mount and double sided. Surface mount needs solder mask and double sided need plated through holes. Solder mask and plated through holes can be done at home, but requires chemicals and time consuming processes. For single sided it can be very productive. I can mill and drill a large board in about 30 to 45 minutes.

Here's a free software for pcb milling. Eagle also has a plug-in to convert files to g-code.
http://flatcam.org/

A drawer full of milled experiments

[ivconic]

I found ferrous chloride (FeCl2) is slow and annoying stuff.
Instead i use Hydrochloric acid (HCl) + Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
Usually H2O2 is 12-15% dilution.
They give me evil eyes when i ask for 30%. As i am terrorist.
But sometimes i manage to obtain 30%.
Process is than ultra fast but also aggressive. Often i got white and pretty itchy fingers, so it needs attention.
But i wait no time to etch the pcb. 10 seconds is usual time.
Also you can enjoy nice fumes while etching!
I also found those fumes as pretty productive! Once you inhale them good; you get "sugar" taste in your mouth for hours.
If you try to light a cigar shortly after; you get incredibly disgusting feeling and tend to vomit hard!
So; it is splendid method to give up of smoking... at least for several hours!
Many benefits, none drawbacks!
Who would annoy with FeCl2 when there is much faster way!
Life is too short to deal with FeCl2!

[ivconic]

Recently i made this for fun.
Intend to mount laser on it.

[Carl-NC]

Back when I worked for Analog Devices we had a LPKF PCB router like this one:

https://www.lpkfusa.com/products/pcb.../protomat_e44/

It had its own room because it sounded like a jet engine when it was running. It was slow, loud, and double-sided was a pain. But back then (20-30 yrs ago) it was the fastest way to proto a PCB.

Now we have cheap PCB houses that can put (10) 4-layer PCBs on my desk in a week. At this point I would never go back to routing or etching my own PCBs, even for a simple 1-layer design.