"Multi-layer" is mentioned; any details?
See, I've often thought about making a simple CNC machine; I started a heavy duty CNC machine, but didn't do my research on the amount of stress, and it bent itself all to shit
(Also, CNC of metal and wood makes a _serious_ mess, and I didn't want to have a big vacuum mounted onto it..); I did make a 3d printer (same design, just additive instead of subtractive) which does the job. But turning the 3d printer (just an x-y-z table really) into a etcher isn't so bad.. like, cnc with a lightweight drill on it (like a Dremel even), can edge pcbs just fine theoretically; theres lots of people doing similar.
Problem always was.. i) lining up two sided pcb, and ii) via's and iii) solder mask/resist.
If you can do multiple layers (such as draw one layer of traces down, and then add a layer of epoxy or something, and then draw another layer on top), thats pretty neat; the trick again is always the vias. (and if you're just rendering layer on top of layer, I'd worry about resilience; its really really annoying if you hand solder up a board and check back a few months later, or after a winter, and the board doesn't work; a PCB doesnm't usually have that problem, but if you hand solder up a perfboard, it often does.)
So, I'm very curious about how all this pans out .. it would be outstanding to save on time and costs and just knock out a pcb; but with the use case so far, its just not worth bath-tub acid etching or cnc carving etchign for at least the projects I do. (I also tend to use a fair amount of surface mount parts, and the pitch between pins, without solder resist, is just not really workable with home cnc etching, or soldering.)
ie: If you just want to knock out a little amplifier or power supply board, you can do it with a sharpie marker and chemicals; but if you want to make somethig liek an arduino (which is _really_ trivial by the way, theres barely anything going on there), the part costs get annoying unless you're using some surface mount microcontrollers .. and even the larger pin pitches get annoying fast, without a nice solder mask, or a good CNC etch, .. you can photo resist etch it, but the solder mask is soooooo handy.
But maybe you can print out the solder mask too, if accurate enough.. but that pin pitch..
Someone will nail this down, soon, and it'll be glorious. But maybe not affordable for the home, due to the accuracy needed..
jeff
