CNC/Laser Engraver using G120

[EvoMotors]

@Mr. John Smith

@ EvoMotors - They use deposition needles for that. You will also need a peristaltic pump that is driven by stepper motor, to run the hydraulics, otherwise you won’t get tight control of the amount of paste that is being dispensed. It will be good for some components but not for all. Further, you pads may have to be slightly oversized.

I had wanted to try dispensing solder like it was 3d printer filament, but the rosin core would boil off and cause it to splatter.

I don’t need a pump, just stepper controlled syringe. It’s not going to be hard to control that.

[EvoMotors]

Move to position > Dispose > retract; Move to position > Dispose > retract; and so on…

[hagster]

@EvoMotors

@Mr. John Smith

@ EvoMotors - They use deposition needles for that. You will also need a peristaltic pump that is driven by stepper motor, to run the hydraulics, otherwise you won’t get tight control of the amount of paste that is being dispensed. It will be good for some components but not for all. Further, you pads may have to be slightly oversized.

I had wanted to try dispensing solder like it was 3d printer filament, but the rosin core would boil off and cause it to splatter.

I don’t need a pump, just stepper controlled syringe.

That will work. I have used a similar machine in the past.

I’m not convinced there are many sensible use cases though. The time required to setup and align it and deal with clogs, cleaning etc etc. mean that it’s not normally worth it for a single board. And if you are doing a lot then you would probably get a proper board with a solder resist so might as well buy a stencil at the same time.

[ianlee74]

@hagster

I’m not convinced there are many sensible use cases though.

Yes there is! Every since I’ve built my first printer my wife has been begging for me to get one that prints chocolate. Not a lot of difference in a solder paste printer and a chocolate printer except that I’d have to put a heater around the syringe of chocolate. @ EvoMotors, make it so!

[hagster]

@ ianlee74 - http://richrap.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/using-3d-printing-for-taste-of.html?m=1

[ianlee74]

@hagster

@ ianlee74 - Reprap development and further adventures in DIY 3D printing: Using 3D Printing for a taste of chocolate nostalgia from the 80's

Yea, that’s a good way if you want to make a lot. My wife is a baker and makes cakes for folks. So, most everything she’d want would be a one time design. Perfect for 3D printing.

[EvoMotors]

@hagster

@EvoMotors

@Mr. John Smith

@ EvoMotors - They use deposition needles for that. You will also need a peristaltic pump that is driven by stepper motor, to run the hydraulics, otherwise you won’t get tight control of the amount of paste that is being dispensed. It will be good for some components but not for all. Further, you pads may have to be slightly oversized.

I had wanted to try dispensing solder like it was 3d printer filament, but the rosin core would boil off and cause it to splatter.

I don’t need a pump, just stepper controlled syringe.

That will work. I have used a similar machine in the past.

I’m not convinced there are many sensible use cases though. The time required to setup and align it and deal with clogs, cleaning etc etc. mean that it’s not normally worth it for a single board. And if you are doing a lot then you would probably get a proper board with a solder resist so might as well buy a stencil at the same time.

Yes, there are lot’s of time have to be spent to set up every board, and may not worth time if you need one board to be done, but… Only If you are using your machine (CNC or 3D printer) with off-shell open source controller with RepRap or similar firmware. I have my own controller with my own firmware and I can add functionality to reduce the setup time to a few minutes. This is the reason I started this project. If you look somewhere in the beginning of this thread, you’ll see my comments:

I need this device just for a heck of it, and I could not find already existing options to achieve functionality (Laser/CNC engraver and Bubble jet printer combination) . Even if I find one, its probably would be not what I imagine and hard to use.

[EvoMotors]

@ianlee74

@hagster

I’m not convinced there are many sensible use cases though.

Yes there is! Every since I’ve built my first printer my wife has been begging for me to get one that prints chocolate. Not a lot of difference in a solder paste printer and a chocolate printer except that I’d have to put a heater around the syringe of chocolate. @ EvoMotors, make it so!

And I will!

[Mr_John_Smith]

@ hagster - Every one off board you make works the first time every time? You’ve never had to make a revision? Even a one off prototype incurs several boards

[ianlee74]

@EvoMotors

Yes, there are lot’s of time have to be spent to set up every board, and may not worth time if you need one board to be done

I wonder… Does setting up solder paste placement have to be a time consuming thing? Could OpenCV be used to find gold pads on a board and the bot then automatically determine where and how much (by size of the pad) to squirt the grey goo? A little preview could allow you to add/remove areas not detected or detected wrongly. This doesn’t sound like a very hard problem.

[EvoMotors]

@ianlee74

@EvoMotors

Yes, there are lot’s of time have to be spent to set up every board, and may not worth time if you need one board to be done

I wonder… Does setting up solder paste placement have to be a time consuming thing? Could OpenCV be used to find gold pads on a board and the bot then automatically determine where and how much (by size of the pad) to squirt the grey goo? A little preview could allow you to add/remove areas not detected or detected wrongly. This doesn’t sound like a very hard problem.

I believe it’s easier to use solder mask file generated by PCB software.

[ianlee74]

@EvoMotors

I believe it’s easier to use solder mask file generated by PCB software.

And where the fun in that?

[EvoMotors]

Read solder mask file generate by PCB software and automatically dispense solder paste using machine is not fun?

[ianlee74]

@EvoMotors

Read solder mask file generate by PCB software and automatically dispense solder paste using machine is not fun?

Yea, but that’s what everyone else does. Be different and make a machine that doesn’t care how well your PCB is aligned, whether it has fiducials, and doesn’t need any stinkin’ mask file. Just toss it a PCB and let it go to work!

[Mr_John_Smith]

@ ianlee74 - no fudicals is pushing it

[ianlee74]

@Mr. John Smith

@ ianlee74 - no fudicals is pushing it

Why would you need fiducials if every pad is identified via camera? Basically, the pads become the fiducials and the orientation is determined ad-hoc. Note, I’m not talking about a machine for mass production where high speed is a requirement. I’m talking about a machine for very short one-offs where a solder mask file may or may not be available.

[EvoMotors]

@ianlee74

@EvoMotors

Yes, there are lot’s of time have to be spent to set up every board, and may not worth time if you need one board to be done

I wonder… Does setting up solder paste placement have to be a time consuming thing? Could OpenCV be used to find gold pads on a board and the bot then automatically determine where and how much (by size of the pad) to squirt the grey goo? A little preview could allow you to add/remove areas not detected or detected wrongly. This doesn’t sound like a very hard problem.

Let me know when you finish porting OpenCV to netmf.