
I made my own PCBs with a 3D printer - StavrosK
https://www.stavros.io/posts/make-pcbs-at-home/
======
tomstokes
I love seeing DIY PCB manufacturing projects like this. Using the 3D printer
as a plotter is a creative take on the traditional DIY process.

For any aspiring EE hobbyists: Manufacturing your own PCBs is almost never
worth the effort. You'll spend days or weeks getting the process and tooling
right, and you still have to manually wire any vias that connect the front and
back sides of the PCB. These DIY PCB manufacturing projects are fun if you're
in it for the experience, but very impractical for getting work done. It's
quick and easy to order small quantity PCBs online.

OSH Park is a popular option:
[https://oshpark.com/#services](https://oshpark.com/#services) You can get 3
boards in 9-12 days for $5/square inch. If you need the boards sooner,
$10/square inch will get you a 4-5 day turnaround time. You won't save any
money by buying all of the gear to DIY etch your boards, and you certainly
won't save any time.

~~~
thedance
Those prices and lead times don't seem very competitive. At Sunstone I pay
$5/sq in for 1-day service on a 2-layer board. If I was willing to wait a week
it's $1/sq in.

I think people who are impressed by 3d printers often aren't very experienced
with how easy it is to make or get made the things they are printing. I can
draw a board in my EDA program, hit a button at 6pm and come back to work with
the boards on my desk at 8am the next morning, if I want to pay for that. Same
deal for parts: I can order a box full of crap from Digi-Key at 10pm Pacific
Time and the Fedex guy will drop it on my desk 10 hours later. Electronics
prototyping is extremely well developed, fast, and dirt cheap.

~~~
kickopotomus
Do you have some sort of special deal on pricing? What sort of quantities are
you ordering? For oshpark, it's $5/sq in for a batch of 3 boards. I just
checked the prices at sunstone and they quoted ~$35 per board for a 1 square
inch 2-layer board for 1-day service or $14 per board for 1-week.

~~~
StavrosK
JLC PCB is less than $10 for 10 5x5 cm PCBs, including shipping. They just
take way too long to deliver where I live.

~~~
cozzyd
Not to mention many of their orders are stuck in limbo right now.

~~~
sschueller
All my JLCPCB orders are moving and arriving without an issue but that is not
the case with their parts supplier (LCSC) or others.

------
kazinator
I've achieved good results with just a laser printer.

(Print mirror image onto glossy magazine paper, transfer toner to copper with
clothing iron, wash paper away with water, etch, drill.)

[https://i.imgur.com/JtMQemK.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/JtMQemK.jpg)
[https://i.imgur.com/2olwewD.png](https://i.imgur.com/2olwewD.png)

I have used markers for touching up toner-transfer boards (not that one). I
found that markers do not resist the etching solution as well as toner. Toner
provides a higher build of plastic resin material on the surface than the
trail left by a marker. (Perhaps doing multiple coats with the marker could
build it up.)

I would also highly recommend doing "copper pours" as I did with the above
board. Etch away as little copper as possible. The etch will be efficient and
fast.

The circuit board in my above images was etched inside a tiny container, in
minutes! In fact, the "etching tank" I used was a plastic bottle cap from a
1.9 liter V-8 juice.

If you etch away most of the copper and insist on getting those large, etched
areas very clean, that may take so much etching that it will eat into the
traces that you want to keep, leaving them in rough shape, and maybe even
nonworking.

The resist only protects the copper from the top. The sides of every trace are
exposed. Leave it in the solution long enough and the etchant will work its
way under the resist and etch them away.

Of course, copper pours require large black areas, which probably doesn't
translate to good economics if you're using markers. A mixed approach might be
possible: do smaller copper pours in the the nooks and corners around the
traces and pads, and cover large areas with rectangular pieces of electrical
tape.

~~~
StavrosK
You're basically spot on, I had all these problems that you mention. I didn't
think of adding planes (I actually had them but removed them) because I didn't
want the printer to spend an eternity drawing, but after you mentioned it, it
makes sense that it's definitely worth it.

That's what I'll be doing from now on, thank you!

------
throwanem
You asked about safety. Sodium persulfate isn't that risky [1]; your main
concern is respiratory, so keeping the temperature low is a good intuition. If
you decide to work with higher heat to accelerate the etch, wear breathing
protection.

Sodium persulfate is a strong oxidizer, which is what makes it an effective
etchant, but that also makes it a fire risk. In storage, keep it cool and dry;
silica gel moisture scavenger packets probably aren't a bad idea. And, of
course, keep it away from anything flammable.

Finally, it's a good idea not to dispose of the used etchant solution down a
drain. Check with your municipality to find a safe disposal method, rather
than add it to the ecosystem where it will poison wildlife.

[1]
[https://www.fishersci.com/store/msds?partNumber=O61141&produ...](https://www.fishersci.com/store/msds?partNumber=O61141&productDescription=SODIUM+PERSULFATE+CERT+1KG&vendorId=VN00033897&countryCode=US&language=en)

~~~
StavrosK
Thanks for this! Would it be okay to etch with the container lid on? That
would take care of fumes even at slightly higher temperatures, but I don't
know whether it'll cause some other problem.

~~~
throwanem
I'd hesitate to try that. You'd be making a pressure vessel, and while this
doesn't seem a tremendously energetic process, it will become more so with
increased temperature. Having a small explosion in your flat probably isn't a
good time, either!

If it were me, instead of a sealed container I'd just run the process under an
open window with a fan propped in it to exhaust whatever fumes develop, and
maybe under an improvised fume hood made of a cut-open garbage bag and masking
tape. (If you do that, make sure to leave space at the bottom for intake air.
The idea is to make a funnel that will pull room air in, mix it with process
gas, and exhaust the lot outside instead of into your living space.)

The window-and-fan method worked well when using vinegar-based iron acetate
stain, and later polyurethane sealant, on a quite large table I made back when
I lived in a tiny apartment; for a low-volume process like this, it'll
probably do just fine, I'd think.

~~~
StavrosK
That would be a good option in the summer, but with sub-zero temperatures in
the winter, that would probably not be ideal :/

I might try a sealed container with some kind of valve or loose seal and see,
thank you!

------
pjbk
Don't use a marker. I use 2-3 layers of TPU filament or Ninjaflex over copper
treated with washable adhesive. Works wonderfully. As always, clean the copper
very well with isopropyl before anything. You can also do flex PCBs this way:

\- [https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Flexible-Circuit-
Board...](https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Flexible-Circuit-Boards-
Using-A-3D-Printer)

~~~
xenomachina
Nice! My first thought when I saw this post was that extruded filament of some
sort would probably be more precise, and easier to set up.

Why TPU or Ninjaflex? Does that make it easier to eventually remove the mask?
Or is it that other materials would break down in the etchant?

~~~
pjbk
Adherence. Normal PLA/ABS or other plastic filaments will shrink when they
cool down, and cause the thin layer of material to pull and separate from the
copper. TPU is rubber-like and will have less inner stress to pull the
material off. Also PLA absorbs humidity and will tend to change volume in a
solution, with the same propensity to separate from the copper during the
etching. TPU has more impermeability.

I have also tried using adhesion glues and hair sprays. Sometimes a thin
application of hair spray (removed with a quick spray of isopropyl before the
etching) helps a bit to define the edge traces. However I found that cleaning
the copper very well, having a clean chamber in the printer and controlling
well the etching temperature to reduce the etching time has the same effect
and is less burdensome.

~~~
penagwin
Have you tried PETG? I know loves to adhere to glass (if rather aggressively)
- maybe it'd work here too?

It'd be cool if it does because PETG is a lot easier to print because of its
rigidity (especially in bowden drives)

~~~
pjbk
Good question. Not yet. When I carried out the tests (3+ years ago) I didn't
have PETG filament around. Then TPU worked well for me and I have been
sticking with it. I have a couple of PETG spools now so I will certainly try
it next time!

------
beeforpork
OK, I am puzzled: 2D printing is a dark art, but 3D printing is not?

And comparing this to Chinese PCB manufacturing services is weird, too. If you
want double sided, with vias, down to tiny traces, with plating and solder-
stop and text, then you may be willing to pay the shipment and wait a few
days.

Yes, I admit that this is a fun method. But what is the advantage over laser
printing and then, say, using UV light to transfer to a photo PCB?

Honestly, I do not get why laser printers are a dark art, please explain!

~~~
bob1029
I came here with the same question. I can see how the laser printer approach
might have its own difficulties, but from a layman's perspective this seems
like the most accessible & reproducible path.

~~~
hwillis
It's very much an art. Gotta have the right paper, printer, and temperature
application, and there's no good way to know until you have a feel for it.
Plus finding a laser printer is a hassle now.

~~~
jacquesm
> Plus finding a laser printer is a hassle now.

Huh? Aren't they a complete commodity? $250 will get you a half decent one.

~~~
StavrosK
I don't know about everyone else, because what you're saying seems to be a
common sentiment and multiple people here mention "just" getting a $200+ piece
of equipment, but neither the $200 nor finding the space to put the printer on
is worth it to me for the ~1 PCB per year I want to make (and ~0 pages I want
to print).

At most, I might go to a printing place and ask them to print a page, but my
3D printer is right there and this saves me a trip.

~~~
jacquesm
Right, but a 3D printer is :)! Bet that cost a lot more than $200.

~~~
StavrosK
I think it was actually right around $200, but I'm not saying people should
get a 3D printer instead of a 2D printer, I'm saying that making PCBs with
what you have is better than making them with something you have to buy. If
you already have a laser printer, that will probably be much better for you
(unless you have a 3D printer too :p).

This post is basically saying "if you don't have a laser printer but have a 3D
one, you can still make PCBs!" :)

~~~
jacquesm
Fair enough. Someone should figure out how to print photoresist directly with
an inkjet printer. That would be a neat trick.

~~~
StavrosK
Or even better, conductive ink! We probably aren't very close to that, but
maybe a better etchant isn't too far off, and I'd settle for that.

~~~
kragen
You can buy conductive ink pens from Adafruit and many hobby stores.

------
lstodd
It's fun to turn a 3d-printer into a plotter, but alas only for simple stuff.

A given-away laser printer (that is, $0) and $25 laminator deliver 15 mil /
0.4 mm traces easily and consistently.

I very much doubt any pen can do that, even with proper mount - the rubber
band will just ruin any accuracy and consistency, and even if the pen is hard
fixed, the tip will still wobble, plus always imperfect levelling will mess
with the track width.

~~~
StavrosK
This is true, that's why v2 of my mount uses a zip tie! That one works much
better, and I don't really need 0.4mm traces for the quick PCBs I need. If I
need tighter tolerances, I can make the PCB this way, see that it works,
change the tolerance and send it to a fab.

How do you use the laminator with the printer?

~~~
lstodd
1\. Preheat the PCB with common iron. 2\. Apply the paper to the heated PCB
3\. Pass the sandwich through the laminator several times.

This ensures that the temperature and pressure are uniform across the entire
PCB and toner is never smeared.

------
armagon
Hmm... I thought there were special pens you could use to draw your own
circuits.

Something like this, perhaps:
[https://shop.circuitscribe.com/](https://shop.circuitscribe.com/)

I think that'd be even cooler, as it would save a step and not involve etching
chemicals.

~~~
StavrosK
Oooh, if conductive ink works well, that could be amazing! I need to look into
these some more, thanks for the info!

~~~
45ure
I have used Circuit Writer and Caikote for fixing lifted traces and remotes
etc. I don't know if it will be either feasible or cost-effective, for small
to medium projects. Good writeup, by the way!

[https://caig.com/conductive-compounds-coatings/](https://caig.com/conductive-
compounds-coatings/)

~~~
StavrosK
Thanks, and thank you! These are a bit expensive, but I usually only need one
or two PCBs, so it might work. I'll give them a shot, thanks again!

------
alphabetter
It's not unknown for people to hand-draw PCBs with permanent markers in much
the way you describe. It's not a new idea, but with 3D printers being common
these days, it's nice to remind people of this approach to PCB manufacture.

Having made a few PCBs at home, my experience is the etching if the weak link.
It's hard to get consistent, high quality traces - particularly if there is
any kind of high density layout.

With some effort you can to double sided PCBs using this kind of technique,
but any kind of through-plating has to be done manually.

~~~
pathartl
I have a very wonder Precision Fidelity C7A tube preamp and it has some very
wonderful hand drawn traces:
[https://www.audioasylumtrader.com/images/y2016/06/156317/IMG...](https://www.audioasylumtrader.com/images/y2016/06/156317/IMG_0177.JPG)

Being from the 90's and only ever seeing CAD-designed PCBs, this blew my mind
the first time I took it apart.

~~~
hinkley
A while back there was a discussion here about how crosstalk in rectilinear
traces (I think there’s a term for this but this is how I think of them) are
becoming a bit of a problem and that more organic looking lines (not unlike
these) can help.

Audio people are notorious for detecting noise. That hand drawn circuit might
be less artistic and more practical than you’d expect.

~~~
pathartl
I do remember that article, but what I took away from it is it only really
happens when you're working on the small, extremely dense scale.

------
jgamman
Note to chemists: PCB is a printed circuit board not a polychlorinated
biphenyl. i know i came for the wonder of atomic scale printers but still,
printing circuits is cool too.

------
fest
Another way to step up the resolution a notch is using photoresist coated PCB
and a small UV laser. It is typically a negative process (exposed photoresist
dissolves in developer solution), so you'd have to invert your plot/gcode,
there are two extra steps (developing the exposed photoresist so it dissolves
and dissolving the remaining photoresist after etching in acetone bath).

However, that brings you closer to being able to prototype a PCB for something
with 0.5mm pitch.

------
madengr
Back in the 20th century, we did this with flat-bed pen plotters. Ink makes
lousy resist anyway. Much better results using old fashioned transparency and
photo resist.

~~~
StavrosK
It wasn't too bad, as you can see from the photos. I think the problem was
that I left it way too long in the etchant because I didn't have a copper
plane, but I will try with one next time.

------
cronix
Why not attach a Dremel with some routing bits instead of the pen and route
it?

~~~
throwanem
Two problems. First, it's going to be hard to get any kind of rigidity without
heavy clamping that may damage the printer head. Second, the mechanism isn't
designed to drive that kind of load. So you're unlikely to get usable results,
and you _are_ likely to destroy the 3D printer while you're trying.

If you really want to do that kind of work, you'd be better off with something
like a CNC-equipped Proxxon micromill. But that's several thousand dollars'
worth of investment for a tool that's honestly not good for much beyond what
you're already doing with it - those things are _tiny_ , so unless you're
making intricate model parts or something like that, you're going to have a
hard time finding uses for it that don't run up against the physical limits of
what it can handle.

And, after all, we're only talking here about removing a thou or two of
material that can be oxidized away just fine. Not that machining isn't an
absolute joy, but a chemical process makes a lot more sense here.

~~~
cronix
I use a lulzbot Taz and the toolheads are easy to swap out. I've seen a dremel
tool holder for it on thingaverse, so that would take care of the weight and
rigidity since it would be on its own mount instead of mounted to the actual
extruder.

What do you mean by "drive that kind of load"? Are you talking about the
weight, or pulling the dremel through the material to cut it (resistance)? If
the latter, it seems that just going slow with the steppers and a high speed
on the dremel would eliminate that?

Other people have converted their 3d printers to CNC machines. I'm not sure
why this wouldn't be possible with a little effort. It seems cleaner/safer
than dealing with chemicals?

[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1053303](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1053303)

~~~
crankylinuxuser
That may be true, but 3d printer gantries are not built for the stresses of a
dremel or cutting tool.

First, you'll get loads of wobble. Normally cnc machines use a 2 smoothrod
with a leadscrew in the center for strong stability and smooth motion. Once
you turn on a source that spins in X000 rpm, it will send motion through the
whole system.

Secondly, once you start cutting anything stronger than foam, cutting will
introduce shear forces on the gantry head itself. All 3d printers don't need
to worry about XY rotational motion. That's usually a non-constrained degree
of freedom.

Third, you need to mount the piece you're cutting or it'll move (duh!). But
tabletop vises are HEAVY. Your bed probably can't support it. The only bed I
know that could would be a 3 point Z leveling bed. Those're rare.

Feel free to try, and not take my word for it. But this has been attempted,
and failed on many accounts.

However, this would be a good place to try. And this tool is good up to alu
cutting. [https://all3dp.com/2/mostly-printed-cnc-mpcnc-all-you-
need-t...](https://all3dp.com/2/mostly-printed-cnc-mpcnc-all-you-need-to-
know/)

------
mighty_atomic_c
I've had some success converting an old printer to do pen plotting, but I
haven't tried PCB manufacture yet because Sharpie marker does not do a
sufficient, reliable job at working as a mask. I haven't been able to even use
it to touch up my own projects!

My experience is mostly with warmed Ferric Chloride as the etchant, so perhaps
ymmv with other etchants. However, in my case, glossy photo paper + laserjet
transferred with clothes or hair iron (a tedious and awful process) works
well, but Sharpie has not been able to help me touching up any areas damaged
by the transfer.

If anyone else has a better mask suggestion than Sharpie, I could try out that
sort of thing instead.

~~~
StavrosK
I used an edding marker (I mention the model in another comment) that worked
excellently.

------
ur-whale
This does not solve what (to me) is the main problem how DYI PCB making: the
chemical step.

For me, that is the number one things that needs to be solved: using nasty
chemicals to etch copper away.

Not drawing on the copper. That's easy (and there's a million ways to do it).

~~~
StavrosK
Etching the small PCBs I created took a minimal amount of chemicals in the cut
bottom of a water bottle. It's not nothing, but it wasn't a big problem.

~~~
ur-whale
How did you get rid of the byproducts ?

------
osrec
Rather than using an etching solution, could you just use a Dremel style
attachment to shave off the copper from the board to "reveal" your PCB design?

~~~
ur-whale
There's tons of videos and web sites on the net describing this, usually with
tiny and cheap CNC machines.

It works very well, and there's no need to use nasty chemicals anywhere in the
process.

~~~
JshWright
> and there's no need to use nasty chemicals anywhere in the process.

Yeah, instead you get lots of microscopic airborne fiberglass strands (a known
carcinogen). Yay....?

------
prashnts
Nice! I tried doing this a few years ago with a RepRap build. It didn't go
well! Bad marker, pigment that dissolved, not enough ink layers, but the most
interesting one was with Staedtler markers which sorta dissolve previously
laid down ink when I made multiple passes. Ended up doing toner transfer after
giving up.

I wonder how would a thin plastic film cut with one of those vinyl sticker
cutters would fare for masking.

~~~
StavrosK
Oh huh, I'm using an Edding 140S, in case it matters. It was what they gave me
when I asked for a permanent marker, and it worked beautifully. Didn't
dissolve at all in the etchant, yet wipes right off with some alcohol.

~~~
prashnts
No doubt, I had no idea which marker to use. Thanks for the suggestion, I want
to give it another go since toner transfer is often a hit/miss.

~~~
StavrosK
No problem, give it a shot, it worked really really well in my tests, and very
easily.

~~~
armitron
I wouldn't describe the results you show in the photos as "worked really
really well". The traces are uneven and full of holes and discontinuities.

To me that's completely unacceptable. I'd throw them in the garbage but I
guess I'm too OCD and obsessed about quality to work with hand-etched PCBs.

~~~
prashnts
As long as it works or can be fixed with some bodge, I'm okay with that for
prototypes. I do tend to tin the traces wherever they seem 'porous'. For
broken traces, I use wrapping wire core soldered on tracks.

But yeah, that isn't pretty!

------
itronitron
You can also use a Circuit Scribe pen [0] to draw the circuits directly
without the messy step of acid etching the plate. Related [1].

0\. [https://www.circuitscribe.com/](https://www.circuitscribe.com/) 1\.
[https://chibitronics.com/sailboat-card/](https://chibitronics.com/sailboat-
card/)

~~~
jstanley
I couldn't tell from their website: can you solder to this stuff? If so, it
sounds incredibly promising, but if not, then I'm struggling to see how you
use this to connect standard components together.

~~~
itronitron
Good point, the 'ink' is silver but there is no mention of whether it can be
successfully soldered. I wonder if the ink lines can at least aid the flow of
solder.

------
salamanderman
Taking a guess at the issue the pcb2gcode author is dealing with, they
probably are trying to solve the same problems as this patent:
[https://patents.google.com/patent/US10061301B2](https://patents.google.com/patent/US10061301B2)

------
kragen
Homo Faciens made a page about the mechanical side of this process last year:

[https://homofaciens.de/technics-machines-3D-printer-
Zonestar...](https://homofaciens.de/technics-machines-3D-printer-Zonestar-
Printer_en.htm)

------
ur-whale
Just get yourself a tiny CNC machine from banggood and then do this:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ak0IJUMBFg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ak0IJUMBFg)

No chemicals involved, no hacking a machine that wasn't designed for the task.

~~~
JshWright
No _liquid_ chemicals... Airborne fiberglass threads are a lot more dangerous.

------
Jemm
I used my 3D printer with a sharpie rubber banded to the carriage to draw
labels on CDs for a friends band. Worked very well.

Can’t remember the exact software in used but it was a script that converted a
png to gcode.

------
jpindar
This is not what I was hoping for (literally printing the traces).

~~~
StavrosK
It shouldn't be too hard to print the traces, I just didn't try it. I don't
know how well the plastic would adhere.

~~~
pjbk
As I stated above, use TPU or Ninjaflex filament. It adheres very well to a
clean copper surface. Start etching immediately after printing.

~~~
StavrosK
You also mentioned an adhesive, what's that for? Also, how do you find it
better than the marker method?

~~~
pjbk
It will prevent the plastic layers from detaching too easily. Specially if you
do the etching in a warm bath. If you do it right, the finish is far superior
than using a marker, in particular edge traces that turn out very well
defined. That means it's easier to do fine pitch SMD pads, for example.

Through the years I have done many PCBs using different methods: Sharpie
markers, Posca pens, inkjet and laser printing, transfers of different
materials, etc. Except perhaps for pro laser etching or routing, nothing beats
photomasks. In my experience the quality I get with 3D filament compares to a
DIY routing table, so if you have a 3D printer and don't mind chemical
etching, you don't need one.

~~~
StavrosK
Hmm, that's interesting. I'll give it a shot, thank you.

------
convolvatron
another idea that's on my list...apply a ground (as in classic copper plate
etching). use a scribe to remove the negative and etch. my hope is that it
will produce higher precision than a felt-tip for small pitch components

but I still haven't gotten over the activation energy of getting kicad output
into gcode for the dirt cheap grbl machine I got

~~~
StavrosK
Can't you just use my code? It should work well.

------
krallja
How does copper cladding work? That is, how do the manufacturers get copper
onto the FR-4?

~~~
lux_scintilla
It is glued down. The fiberglass (FR4) is filled with glue, the back of copper
foil is lightly roughed up with an oxidizer and then the materials are
laminated together.

------
qaute
There are other ways to make PCBs with a 3D printer:

Instead of etching copper, some people directly print the circuitry with a
solder extruder [1]. The idea's been around for a while [2] but circuit
complexity is usually very limited. Here's a guide [3] (to a similar method)
that uses a hobbyist 3D printer.

To improve on the article's pen-masking method, you can mount a laser instead
of a pen to the 3D printer and expose a specially coated PCB [4]. Or expose UV
light through an LCD [5].

One can also just mount a milling tool to the printer and cut away the copper
directly [6]. A 3D printer's not designed to take the forces from milling
well, so similar but specially designed machines are made [7].

The most impressive methods are geared toward industry:

A cutting-edge industry-grade electronics 3D printer looks like [8]: an
inkjet-style printer with conductive and insulating (dielectric) inks.

Somewhat related, you can use a laser etching and electroplating process ("3D
Moulded Interconnect Devices" "3D MID") to make PCBs on 3D printed weirdly
shaped (i.e., definitely not flat) surfaces. [9] is an impressive example, and
definitely check out a search engine's image results [10].

[1]
[http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2015/01/voxel8-conductive-...](http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2015/01/voxel8-conductive-
ink-embedded.html) [2] [http://blog.reprap.org/2009/04/first-reprapped-
circuit.html](http://blog.reprap.org/2009/04/first-reprapped-circuit.html) [3]
[https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printing-3D-Print-A-
Sold...](https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printing-3D-Print-A-Solderless-
Circuit-Board/) [4] [https://dangerouspayload.com/2017/12/17/pcb-uv-exposure-
scan...](https://dangerouspayload.com/2017/12/17/pcb-uv-exposure-scanner/) [5]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxl7glJMKOQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxl7glJMKOQ)
[6] [https://www.instructables.com/id/PCB-Milling-
Using-a-3D-Prin...](https://www.instructables.com/id/PCB-Milling-
Using-a-3D-Printer/) [7] [https://www.bantamtools.com/pcb-milling-
machine](https://www.bantamtools.com/pcb-milling-machine) [8]
[https://www.nano-di.com/dragonfly-pro-3d-printer](https://www.nano-
di.com/dragonfly-pro-3d-printer) [9]
[https://www.festo.com/group/en/cms/10157.htm](https://www.festo.com/group/en/cms/10157.htm)
[10]
[https://duckduckgo.com/?q=3d+moulded+interconnect+devices&t=...](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=3d+moulded+interconnect+devices&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images)

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yezr
lol and how can you not enjoy the surprise ending!

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poseid
simple and beautiful!

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gswdh
Is there any real value in PCBs like these these days? 2 layers from China can
be fast and is very cheap. You can’t do anything complicated on these single
layer DIY boards, they also carry the risk of defects potentially causing a
lot of frustration.

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pixelface
one niche where i'd argue it's not only valuable but also period correct is
restoring and modifying vintage electronics. Frequently they are single sided
through hole boards that were not born from a CAD program, and are not
available for purchase. You can certainly make the new board with CAD and a
fab house, but for things like vintage synthesizers a hand etched board may
actually be more appropriate and original.

Also the importance of latency in some cases is significant. When the goal is
to iterate a board quickly several times and a diy board is good enough, being
able to have a board in an hour or less could mean multiple board iterations
in one day where sending out to fab might draw out each board iteration to a
week long wait.

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krallja
Do people still do wire-wrap prototyping? Strong enough for (tiny-scale)
production, yet no chemicals, soldering, or drilling required.

