

EX1 by Cartesian Co. – 3D Printing Circuits - smitec
http://blog.smitec.net/posts/ex1-by-cartesian-co-3d-printing-circuits/

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diydsp
I guess this is less messy than copper prototyping (acid etching/gantry
ablation/vectorboarding), but silver is more expensive, ~100x.

Also, -1 for "help start the home PCB printing revolution." Hobbyists have
been making home PCBs for longer than I've been alive. It's not a revolution.
Not that many people really want to do this. They could right now with copper,
but the range of useful things you can build at home is limited, because
having a circuit board is only 1/10th of the problem. Further, prototype
services like [http://oshpark.com](http://oshpark.com) offer high-quality
services, including double-sided boards.

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joezydeco
I was really hoping there was a way to get vias on these boards, or perhaps
the machine 3D-printed the substrate as well and put the vias in that way.

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ChuckMcM
This is pretty awesome. And it is the first time I've heard of someone doing
this with precipitate chemistry which seems really clever.

It also brings a lot of questions to the table which, when answered, will push
electronics prototyping to a new place.

First is signal integrity issues. Getting some electrons from point A to point
B is cool, getting them there along a path that consistently has the same
impedence is a bit harder, do able though with sufficient control.

It's fortunate that many of the inkjet patents have expired, that kept this
approach pinned up for years. I look forward to these guys getting funded and
moving the prototype PCB market from a pint of etchant and a copper plated
board, into something more advanced.

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pbsurf
For this to be truly useful, there needs to be a way for traces to cross
(usually accomplished with multiple layers plus vias). It seems it would be
possible to add a second, insulating ink to print between traces at crossing
points.

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542458
Wait - there's no 3D to this, is there? It would be more accurate to call this
"Printing Circuits" than "3D Printing Circuits".

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isaacb
This is interesting, but not really much more practical than etching (albeit
cleaner). It's a neat proof of concept and that's about it.

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aaronsnoswell
This looks awesome!

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glorps
this is effing brilliant.

