CNC PCB - high quality with the budget 3018 CNC

We are showing you to that you can make your own high quality PCB with a CNC.
In this video we show you the full capabilities of the 3018 CNC.

This video only give a quick overview of milling of the copper layer, drilling the holes for the PIN headers as well as cut out the board.

Link to the 3018 CNC (Affiliate)
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Alternative KIT, but different driverboard.

We use EasyEDA, FlatCAM and Candle (Grbl / Gerbel control) - all free software. But still, with free soft ware and a budget CNC we are able to make extremely high quality PCB designs.

This CNC can compete with Wegstr and the Bantam Tools Desktop PCB Mill.

Make your own custom PCB (Printed Circuit Board) at home.
In this video we use a simple V carve bit. There are special bits you can buy, but for most circuits, a V bit will do.

Hope you enjoy the video!

[davidrathbone]

Warning the 3018 I have when the Z axis is pushing down bends (stacks up error in Z) by 4.5mm, I'm sure the others do also. As the Z Axis with spindle motor is made of plastic.
I made a PCB and even with -3mm on the Z axis (PCB was 1.2mm) for drill holes did not all go fully through. This has to be arround -5mm to work every time. with 6mm tool travel.

Note : I found by spraying WD40 onto the PCB while the PCB tracks are being cut with 30deg V cutter, works well with no copper drag on tracks sides or pad ripping.
Which I see a lot of on YouTube with CNC milling, It also stops dust going all over the place and cools/ lubricates the tool.

My FlatCAM track settings (mm):
Cut Z -0.1
Travel Z 3.0
Feed Rate 20.0 This is still slow in Easel (Which I found better than Candel as its simple)
Multi-Depth Ticked (enabled)
Tool dia 0.254 The secound pass will make this a bit bigger but that should stop any thin un-cut copper gaps shorting.
Depth/pass 0.05 e.g. 2 passes per track (0.1mm) this fixes slight height issues, .With good quality flat plywood on stage, without need of copper height setting. PCB held by double sided tabe. I used so me extra tape (Kapton) around edges which stops WD40 going under the PCB. However after long sessions this tape un-glues from the WD40

Note: On each fresh track plunge a short press of WD40 from its straw cools the cutter, paper towel to remove excess floods.
3018 still wakes the dead, when cutting around track pads when cutter rotation is opposing directions.

85mm x 30mm PCB with not too many tracks takes 53mins, maybe this is slow but works every time - no broken tools and razor sharp tracks..
I made my through hole pads at 3mm with 1mm dia through holes, this fix's drill centers even with 3018 drill shaft wobbel.
Note: 2.54mm center dil pads can never have tracks going through!, For me CNC tracks of less than 1.5mm are hit and miss.
As adjacent tracks can steal tracks copper together with spindle wobbel, this kind of stuff does not show up on your PCB artwork.

When cutting out the PCB the with 3mm end mill, To start cuting into my wood surface this had to -8.5mm even if the pcb is 1.2mm thick!
If you have this machine "you will" have to upgrade the spindle motor and the Z Axis carrage, you can also upgrade the Y axis base.
However even with the cost of these upgrades, you still have a machine better than other entry level CNC's costing a lot more.

I would give my FlatCAM settings for my routed end mill cutouts, but I have to run 3 diffrent cut outs- still a bit trial and error due to 3018 Z axis issues.
First cuts the copper as the Z head bends -3mm Cut Z approx , 2nd cuts into about half the glass fibre (1.2mm FR4) -5mm Cut Z approx
and Final -8.5mm that just pushes through into my plywood . I have to do this to confirm board is cut out (Oh and 4 x 4mm tags). as I can not risk moving the PCB to confirm.
The feed rates are around 30.00 (first pass) then 40.00 and finaly 80.00

Th 3018 laser is a bit hobby ended also, with only the ability to cut 2mm ply. Which I cut out a few name signs. (Not realy any use to me)
The good thing is the laser does not suffer with Z axis bending.

Note; For Altuim users you will have to run your Gerber's into gerbv.exe then export as new gerber. FlatCAM will crash or refuse to use your Altuim Gerber?

My Will I do more CNC PCB's?
It is quicker with chemicals and get finner and more complex track detail. (See videos from Big Clive on Youtube as he uses UV film, if you have not done this.)
However I would use 3018 with new spindel motor and metal Z axis for drilling PCB's and board cut outs....if my neighbours can put up with the noise....

My Wife thinks the 3018 is excellent value, at least thats what I tell

[ReplicateReality]

That was pretty intense intro to just go “Hi there, I’m Mike and I’m Chris” lol

[Imersiva]

Most beginners will tell the cnc3018 sucks (I did that as well). But after reviewing all screws, and experimenting with parameters and different milling cutters, while also lowering speeds (50mm and 4000rpm), it started giving me better results. I like it now.

[audiokees]

I have now almost ready mine cnc router for high resolution incl microstepping. Now I need to learn where the home position is and how to do that, I have endswitches for all axis.

[andreapiccini]

Goo job! Other guys trying to get a pcb on 3018 is going too deep on Z ! copper board usually have 0.035mm thick copper layer, no need to go too deep!

[brianm]

Great video series. How do you probe the pcb for flatness?

[jamesknox]

I hate to ask, but my need is for PBC work and some light plastic cutting and drilling. The CNC 3018 Pro looks like it would do the basic work, but a laser and etch still seems to produce superior PCBs. The Ortur seems to do a good job, and has a 15 watt (aka 4.5 watt) laser available that focuses down to a very small spot. So my questions: Can I put the Ortur laser on the CNC 3018 Pro? And what power laser would you guess would be adequate to cut the spray on coating (not the copper itself, of course)? Speed is NOT an issue. Precision and repeatability IS, however, very important. Suggestions, anyone?

[cristiant]

Regarding wegstr, I there a way to remove the rest of the copper from the surface just like wegstr did after milling the router they did another run to remove the excess copper

[ingmarm]

Far out look at the runout (wobble) on that spindle!!! That answers my questions about how terrible it is.

[diegomontez]

What version of FlatCam did you guys use? It seems to be quite different now and I can't follow this as easily.

[gangleweed]

Anybody who takes a basic 3018 straight out of the box and expects to use it without any upgrades or modifications is asking for gold at the end of the basic machine is made very much down to a price and suitable upgrades that make it sing will double the price but well worth it.

[basvisscher]

How on earth did you manage to get this nice of a quality on the 3018? I have one myself but I didn't get the quality necessary to create usable pcb's. Very well done!

[phnexpertsunlockrepair]

Hi sir I'm buy cnc 3018 pro I need Mobile pcb specific IC grinding can u please Help me I need .nc format Layout

[Berghiker]

Is the 3018 CNC PRO not better and more accurate at making and drilling the PCB?

[republicoftutorials]

I have this cnc but when i do engraving the pcb, i get a problem the bit is not completely straight with the Z axis it kinda move and make shaking i don't know this is the problem with ER11 or what can any body help

[portfedh]

How did you change your pcb design to make the copper lines thicker and for the router to only cut the outline.
I made my circuit in fritzing but it needs editing in order to work. My cnc wants to remove all extra copper and not just a contour and I want to make the end points thicker to solder with ease. Any tips?

[Berghiker]

Are you using Tungsten Carbide 2 Flutes Ball Nose End Mills to drill the holes in the PCB?

[peterking]

I needed this video, thanks for the effort you put in to making it.

I have a project coming up where I need to create a number of PCBs with the same circuitry.

[gustavoloureiro]

Question: Can the 3018 CNC pro machine do a double sided (double layer) PCB?

[Berghiker]

What does the motor spindle look like? Does it have a flat edge on it?