> One of the nice things is that you mount your blank material on the
machine, change tools occasionally, and when you're done you have an
etched, drilled, and cut-out PCB. =A0There is a lot less "in between"
time than with chemical etching.
/>

I briefly looked at using the CD/DVD printing facility on many inkjet
pro\inters as a means of printing resist ink directly to PCB.

I found that various people has done whole pro\inter mods to allow
larger sized PCBs to be printed directly.

Using relatively little automation you could get much of the process automa=
ted.

Adding an NC drill using a dremel like device and an XY table would
give you the holes. I'm sure numerous designs are available already.
Speed can be adjusted to accomodate low power  mechanicsms. Feedback
would allow accuracy if desired.

Cutouts etc not handled without extra effort.

Overall system could be cheapish and goodish and would probably prove popul=
ar.

For extra points add an automated through link placer with soldering.


              Russell

-- =

http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist