More machining class stuff! This time adding more features to existing parts - specifically various holes for attachment
Some of these holes need to be *very* precise - within a single thousandth of an inch >.>
Thankfully there's a specific tool (a reamer) for making very accurate holes!
@starseeker Within one mil, using just mechanical means? that's pretty impressive
-F
@Felthry yeah, though it's just the diameter that needs to be that precise, not the position, so as long as the tool's accurate it's not too difficult ^^;
@starseeker ah so it's not like you could do accurate 1 mil lines with 1 mil spacing between them or anything?
-F
@Felthry well, the milling machine has a DRO that displays to the nearest 0.0002", so probably could do something like that
@starseeker I was mostly joking, but you *can* do PCBs on a milling machine, it's one of the cheapest ways to do them
it just has some enormous downsides
-F
@Felthry oh huh, really? Would've thought it was too labor-intensive to be worthwhile
@starseeker well i'm talking about a CNC machine, all automated
they make ones for that marketed towards makerspaces and particularly rich hobbyists, our university had one that we used a few times
would nto recommend honestly, just go with pcbway or something. you can't do vias on a milling machine, you only get two layers at the most, the precision is horrible (no 4mil/4mil width/spacing for you, more like 20mil/20mil), there's no soldermask or silkscreen, it's just all around bad really
-F
@starseeker i just was thinking about this because you said you might be able to do 1 mil width tracks with 1 mil spacing, and our current PCB manufacturer (PCBway) makes you pay through the nose for anything smaller than 6/6 and doesn't even do anything smaller than 4/4
-F
@Felthry well, that'd need a 1-mil-wide tool :P
@Felthry yeah, there's a PDX-based (iirc) PCB-to-order maker whose site I've got bookmarked that does 2-layer boards with 6mil/6mil width/spacing for $5/in^2 per 3 boards
@Felthry unfortunately that process is pretty different, not really something that can be done on a milling machine >.>