Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Etching PCBs at home creates a lot of toxic chemical waste, but it can still be nice to not have to send away for a PCB. This instructable is about how to use the a Roland vinyl cutter to make a vinyl cut circuit.
Materials needed:
CAMM-1 Servo GX-24 Desktop Vinyl Cutter
http://www.rolanddga.com/asd/products/cutters/gx24/
This basically a plotter with a x-acto on the end that can cut through signs and the like. It is one of the basic machines of the FabLabs, and you might find one in your neighbourhood. There are FabLabs in NYC, Boston, many cities in Europe, etc. Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fab_lab if there is one in your neighbourhood.
3M #1126 copper tape with conductive adhesive
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/electronics/home/productsandservices/products/ProductNavigator/TapeReel/?PC_7_RJH9U5230GE3E02LECIE20KAB4_nid=DBT6P3H017gsRQ89J1RQDXgl60DTQ98XC7bl
This is another material that you might find in a local FabLab. Otherwise you could improvise with other conductive sticker you might find.
Your circuit design in .png format.
Tweezers
Masking tape
Materials needed:
CAMM-1 Servo GX-24 Desktop Vinyl Cutter
http://www.rolanddga.com/asd/products/cutters/gx24/
This basically a plotter with a x-acto on the end that can cut through signs and the like. It is one of the basic machines of the FabLabs, and you might find one in your neighbourhood. There are FabLabs in NYC, Boston, many cities in Europe, etc. Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fab_lab if there is one in your neighbourhood.
3M #1126 copper tape with conductive adhesive
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/electronics/home/productsandservices/products/ProductNavigator/TapeReel/?PC_7_RJH9U5230GE3E02LECIE20KAB4_nid=DBT6P3H017gsRQ89J1RQDXgl60DTQ98XC7bl
This is another material that you might find in a local FabLab. Otherwise you could improvise with other conductive sticker you might find.
Your circuit design in .png format.
Tweezers
Masking tape
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1Design constrains for the circuit
The circuits that you can cut on the Roland are limited by the width of the pen knife. As a rule of thumb, anything that you can cut with a lot of time and effort with an x-acto can be cut by the Roland, but if there are things that are too small for that they will probably also be too small for the vinyl cutter.
To use the cad.py software that goes with a lot of the FabLab machines, save your circuit as a .png. If you're using Eagle as your design software, you can output the layers that you want to use as a monochrome image, and use a 500 dpi to make sure you get enough resolution to contour the part.
Use the .png as your input, and after clicking the cam button select .camm (for the roland) as your output.
For the vinylcutter you only need one contour, check all of the contour lines to make sure that none of your paths are being skipped. If the contouring is sticking two of your parts together, you can down the tool diameter to something untrue as a hack-- the tool really is 0.01, but changing it to for instance 0.005 will probably keep the integrity of your circuit even if all the parts might be a bit smaller than you called for. Similarly, if your circuit has a lot of spacing, you can make your circuit wider by pretending that the tool is wider than it really is.
To use the cad.py software that goes with a lot of the FabLab machines, save your circuit as a .png. If you're using Eagle as your design software, you can output the layers that you want to use as a monochrome image, and use a 500 dpi to make sure you get enough resolution to contour the part.
Use the .png as your input, and after clicking the cam button select .camm (for the roland) as your output.
For the vinylcutter you only need one contour, check all of the contour lines to make sure that none of your paths are being skipped. If the contouring is sticking two of your parts together, you can down the tool diameter to something untrue as a hack-- the tool really is 0.01, but changing it to for instance 0.005 will probably keep the integrity of your circuit even if all the parts might be a bit smaller than you called for. Similarly, if your circuit has a lot of spacing, you can make your circuit wider by pretending that the tool is wider than it really is.
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
Sorry, pet peeve. I love the idea. I wonder if it would work in a Silhouette desktop cutter?
If you have snails in your area it may be available at a nursery.
Good job!