Soldering SMD components

 

Here I just uploaded a video on how I solder the SMD components of my Arduino board made with a CNC machine. This is simple process and really easy with no many tools needed.

 

 

I´m not going to explain the process but in the link below you can see the tools need to solder SMD components.

http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides/Surface_Mount_Soldering/Tools

Also here is a video well explained on how to solder SMD components,  and a link that is basically the process I followed to solder my board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NN7UGWYmBY

Link with the explanation.

http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides/Surface_Mount_Soldering/Resistor

PCB milling process (Complete video)

 

In this post you can see the hole process of making a PCB with a milling machine, you can also see how the machine works and the final product. The video was recorded from outside of the machine so if you want to take a closer look I´ll  be posting pictures so you can see the board and the details of it.

First of all I have to explain a little bit the process which is the following:

1.- Place the board on the machine and tell the machine (through software) in which part of the board you want to make the PCB, also tell the machine what drill bits you are using.

2.- The first thing to do with the machine are the holes where the components will be.

3.- Then make the milling process on the top side of the board.

4.- Flip the board and to the same with the bottom side of the board.

5.- Cut the board edge so you get the board size you design.

These are simple steps to develop a Printed Circuit Board on a milling machine.

I used some drill bits that where specially designed for the machine I was using, but the in all CNC machine is similar (the process and the special drill bits).

The first one I used was the Universal Cutter 0.2mm, this one is used to mark the outside line of the tracks, vias, pads and so on of the board. Here you can see the drill bit:

 

The other one I used was the End mill 1.0mm which is used to isolate a bigger space on the board. You can see of the drill bit is here:

If you see the two of them you don’t see to much difference between the two, but the the truth is that the universal cutter makes an isolation of 0.2mm and the end mill makes one of 1.0mm. This pictures helps you to understand what I´m talking about.

 

 

As you can see the orange traces are for the Universal Cutter 0.2mm and the purple traces are for the End Mill 1.0mm.

Sometimes when you are working with these drill bits you have to adjust the height the Z axis so those bits can really isolate the tracks, in the next picture you can see the difference between a good isolation (BLUE) and a bad isolation (RED).

 

To make sure the track is well isolated you have to measure the distance of the trace made with the Universal Cutter 0.2mm and the distance should be that of a little bit more than that like 0.20mm - 0.25mm. In this picture you can see the measurements done on this board.

 

 

In the picture the distance of thickness of the board is about 0.22mm which is a good thickness to isolate the board.

 

Here you have the complete process of making the PCB:

 

 

And some pictures of the final products.

PCB milling

Today we are going to talk about PCBs also known as Printed Circuit Board which are important when developing a device or when you are prototyping.

A PCB mechanically supports and electrically connects electronic components using conductive tracks, pads and other features etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. PCBs can be single sided (one copper layer), double sided (two copper layers) or multi-layer. Conductors on different layers are connected with plated-through holes called vias.

 

This is a picture of a etched PCB as you can see there are some details on the board with not etched copper.

 

Printed circuit boards are used in all but the simplest electronic products. PCBs require the additional design effort to lay out the circuit but manufacturing and assembly can be automated. Manufacturing circuits with PCBs is cheaper and faster than with other wiring methods as components are mounted and wired with one single part. Furthermore, operator wiring errors are eliminated.

In our vocational institute we make PCB with a mill because those board that we make are prototype, below I´ll explain quickly the process.

Printed circuit board milling (also known as isolation milling) is the process of removing areas of copper from a sheet of printed circuit board material to recreate the pads, signal traces and structures according to patterns from a digital circuit board plan known as a layout file. Similar to the more common and well known chemical PCB etch process, the PCB milling process is subtractive: material is removed to create the electrical isolation and ground planes required. However, unlike the chemical etch process, PCB milling is typically a non-chemical process and as such it can be completed in a typical office or lab environment without exposure to hazardous chemicals. High quality circuit boards can be produced using either process.

 

Pictures of Milled PCBs.

 

Milling them on a CNC is a quick way with a different set of pros and cons:

The good:

* Quick turnaround - don't have to wait days or weeks for it to ship.

* The mill does the drilling.

* No messy acid to deal with.

* Once you have good settings, the process is easily repeatable.

* Two sided boards are possibly slightly easier than with etched boards.

* Inexpensive - you're just paying for blank circuit boards which are a couple bucks each.

The not so good:

* Bits and end mills can be expensive and they wear out.

* Bits of copper clad fiberglass get all over the place.

* Milling a board can take a while.

* Board stock and mill bed flatness will present a challenge.

* Isolation size is a function of bit size and mill accuracy. Check your design carefully before you plan on using fancy SMT parts with densely packed pins.

 

 

BuzzNet Tags: Printed Circuit Board