Hi!!! I’m planning to invest in a 3D printer and was wondering what models would you guys recommend? I’m new to 3D printing and modeling so any help would be greatly appreciated. Also are there any affordable PCB printers available for hobbyist use?
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Welcome aboard to this fun hobby.
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Three questions for the 3D printer question:
- What is your budget?
- What do you want to make?
- Do you care whether the vendor tries to force you to use their software and parts, locking you into their ecosystem?
And PCB as in printed circuit board? The typical ways to make those at home today are masking with laser toner and transfer paper and etching with ferric chloride, and routing blank circuit board with a CNC router.
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For PCB’s I use a small generic CNC, very small tool bits and a lot of swearing/snapping tiny tool bits/time lost levelling the board. It’s good fun, but a rubbish way to make PCB’s.
If you need SMD boards with very fine tracks, multiple layers, flux masks etc I strongly suggest sticking to online services; the results are generally very good.
That said; I’ve had a lot of fun making my own PCB’s, I’m just careful in what I take on.
The mask/transfer/etch technique described by @mcdanlj is much easier, produces more repeatable results and can handle finer detail (with careful etching).
Combining a small CNC/router to cut boards and drill holes, combined with etching for tracks is the best home solution I think.
Etching also does double-sided boards well, unlike routing the tracks out. I’ve only done one double sided board with the CNC.. and despite it being very simple alignment was a nightmare, never again!
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