I bought a similar mill a year ago to try and mill PCBs. Here is what I found:

It comes as a LOT of parts, you have to assemble it yourself. The positioning accuracy of the finished machine depends on how well you build it. Make SURE you follow the directions carefully and have a precision square handy, make sure that the assembled parts are square to each other. If they are not square, all bets are off. There is nothing in the design that guarantees things will be square. When assembling put the screws in enough to hold things together but not fully tight, use the precision square to get things really square, then tighten the screws.

I had to put mine together twice to get it really right (partly because I had a piece in backwards, CAREFULLY look at the pictures to make sure you get it right!)

If built well the positioning accuracy is actually quite good, much better than I expected.

The big problem with these is the spindle motor, it is HORRIBLE. You can't get anywhere near fast enough speed from this one. When the cutter is actually cutting something it slows way down. Even with a really good cutter it is very difficult to get good results.

If you use a very shallow cut, just enough to cut through the copper layer it can sort of work.

I highly recommend a good, real CNC spindle. Unfortunately finding one that will fit is tough, the holder is 42mm, most of the small CNC spindles are 52 or 55mm and won't fit. You CAN get good brushless 42mm CNC spindles but there aren't very many on the market. You need a separate spindle controller and power supply, so it is best to buy a bundle with all three. You will probably pay $150 to $200 for this. The addition of this spindle turns the 3018 from an excruciating experience in frustration into a very useful machine.

One thing you find out when doing PCB milling is that PCBs are NEVER EVER flat. You are milling a very thin layer of copper, you will find that at some parts of the board the cutter doesn't even touch the copper, some areas it goes part way through the copper and other areas it digs down into the substrate. To deal with this you need a probing auto-leveling system in the gcode sender you use. Several of them have this, make sure you learn how to use it and run the process every time you go to mill a board.

When buying a 3018 machine make sure it comes with a 24V power supply, some companies sell them with 12V supplies, it will work, but not very well. They are really designed to work at 24V.

If that $200 is really the limit you are going to have a very frustrating time trying to get workable PCBs out of this. If you can go $400 then you can get the good spindle and then things are MUCH easier. There is still a lot to learn but at least the machine won't be fighting against you.

I agree with the others, I use Eagle for board designs. But as has been mentioned Autodesk has bundled Eagle with Fusion 360, so you probably have to get the free version of Fusion 360 to get Eagle.

John S.

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I just join this group and was hope someone who could give me some advice which mini CNC mill is good. I look at Mini CNC mill from Aliexpress. Is CNC 3018 Pro good? Are there other products that are better? I didn't want to spend more than $200.00. I don't want a big CNC mill machine. I don't have room for it. I will not do a lot of mills. Also, which software should we use to draw circuit board or draw schematic then convert to layout circuit board then plotting on CNC mill? I am still learning and don't know where to start. I have watch many CNC but never have done CNC my own before.

Hi Reid,
My two cents...
I use ZEN TOOLWORKS (ZTW) CNC machine along with MACH3 software.
My models are made with ILLUSTRATOR and exported with CNC-GCODE script, after a few manual changes in the gcode my cuts are high quality
I draw PCB with Eagle free version and engraved on the ZTW with autoleveler and a Vcurve bit
Alain

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Hi,?

I just join this group and was hope someone who could give me some advice which mini CNC mill is good. I look at Mini CNC mill from Aliexpress. Is CNC 3018 Pro good? Are there other products that are better? I didn't want to spend more than $200.00. I don't want a big CNC mill machine. I don't have room for it. I will not do a lot of mills. Also, which software should we use to draw circuit board or draw schematic then convert to layout circuit board then plotting on CNC mill? I am still learning and don't know where to start. I have watch many CNC but never have done CNC my own before.

Sol menüde bulunan "Files" > "Software" >??pcb-gcode-3.6.2.4.zip
t?klay?p indirebilirsiniz.

It can be found at:
<>

Good luck and welcom aboard.

Country

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Hola Mario,

las velocidades son

para trazas 20 (IPM) pulgado por minuto XY,? 10 pulgado por minuto in Z

??????? cortar 8 (IPM) pulgado por minuto XY, 6 pulgado por minuto in Z

??????? todos 24,000 RPM

bueno suerte con eso.

john

No Aprendi esas palabras in escuela hace 60 anos ahora.

EM3E8-0100-15V 0.0100in. (0.254mm) tip dia., 3-flute 15° tapered stub trace-isolation bit, 0.020 in. DOC, 1.42 in. (36mm) OAL

This is what I use for routing traces on my 6040.? I get them from Precise Bits in Colorado.

I run them at 24000 rpm and get really nice results.? As I said, I use a different bit for cutting out the perimeters.


John

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Later.? john

Thanks all!? Appreciate the quick responses.

John, could you send me the details?

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Sorry, I missed that fact :-)

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: the perimeter cutter question
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2019 23:19:29 -0500
From: john <jferg977@...>
To: [email protected]



Oops,'

There is a photo of an earlier incarnation of my pcb etching setup attached to my first post. It shows the first shot at the idea which was MDF, not HDPE.? the current version is, indeed HDPE, but I haven't taken any photos of it yet.

john

This is what I use for the permiterw,


Amana Tool 51515 SC Spiral 'O' Single Flute, Plastic Cutting 1/16 D x
1/4 CH x 1/8 SHK x 2 Inch Long Down-Cut CNC Router Bit with Mirror Finish

I use pcbcode for the traces and a 15 degree etcher (name if anyone is interested), and SheetCam for the perimeter. Sheetcam has a function for lifting the cutter at intervals as it cuts to form tabs. One can cut the tabs off after the perimeter is cut using a razor blade.

All of my boards are same size (2x3). I have an aluminum fixture to drill the holes in the corners, and an HDPE? fixture which bolts to my 6040 CNC router.? The HDPE fixture is drilled to align with the corner holes in the PCB board and I hold it down with 4 nylon 6-32 socket head cap screws.

I face off the top of the HDPE fixture with a one inch fly cutter to level the surface.? When I'm doing boards, there is usually a sequence as I home in on something which will work so I only need to do the facing once.? But I do have to do it every time I take the fixture off the router bed and need to replace it.

If anyone is interested I can send the full details of this setup.

john