If I had known this was going to be as painful as it turned out to be, I may have seriously considered just trying to design a PCB and having it manufactured professionally. Cuz wow.. this was... well.. not fun, exactly.... More like yikes.
I don't think I've ever actually built anything on one of these prototyping boards before. Probably should have started with something a bit... simpler?
Oh well - it seems like this part of my idea is working anyway. Still a lot more to do/experiment with.
It seems like it should be possible to 3D print a PCB. I suppose it probably is, but it's likely some hacky process that requires a better printer than I have, special materials, more equipment, and hours of wrangling software tools that were probably never meant to work with each other.
Maybe I should get a CNC mill... that could do it, right? Should be able to mill out a PCB design on a copper coated plate, I'd think? Plus it could drill holes. This probably exists too but is probably too expensive.
@sanguish I ran across an article that tapped a marker to a 3D printer and used it to draw the lines on a board and then did the etching the old fashioned way.
@bigzaphod I remember during high school (23 years ago, lol), we designed PCBs using CAD-like software to draw the circuit and a special printer to print it. We then inserted the resulting circuit in a chemical liquid for hours and dried it.
It was always fun at the next lesson to showcase which circuits worked, which did nothing and which emitted fumes 🫠
@bigzaphod You can do it using the old photographic method. I used it in my school electronic classes. Print or draw an overlay in black ink that absorbs UV, let it under UV light for the right time, then go through all the chemical baths, and finally manually drill the holes. Or… just order it from a PCB manufacturer. 😄
@bigzaphod There are a number of creative ideas to find something in the middle before ordering a PCB (though that’s getting a lot easier and cheaper according to folks I follow who do it regularly).
Add comment