PCB Router

Printed circuit boards are usually manufactured by chemical etching (with iron (III) chloride or ammonium persulfate, for example). This is not very practical if only a few boards are necessary, because these etchants are messy and somewhat dangerous.

My first design was a sort of bastard gantry mill. The workpiece was stationary; the spindle was bolted to the z-carriage, which travelled along the z-ways (grey), which were bolted to the y-carriage, which travelled along the y-ways (cyan), which were supported at either end by two x-carriages. Each carriage was driven by a screw; each screw was driven by a stepper motor, so that the x-motors were stationary, the y-motor moved in the x direction, and the z-motor moved in the x and y directions.