Toward 3D printed Circuit Boards

[LesterCHall]

Oh yes, one more thing - I made a mistake and created a print of two objects with the second object elevated about 9mm above the build plate. What the printer did was it did not draw a skirt for the elevated object, but when it got to the object's base height, it went over to where the object existed on the bed and deposited some filament which of course came out in a sproingy coil because there was nothing to support it. This leads me to believe that a multi-filament print can be accomplished within certain design constraints.

Les

[avocadobaby]

I have thought up three or four methods for making circuit boards with 3D printers

Les

Hey have you looked at these methods. most require some hardware modifications and 4/5 are for 2d circuits

1. Solder extruder for reprap printer http://youtu.be/Wnu4lmOnX00
2. Laser circuit etching with a reprap http://youtu.be/Chq6TcTeDJc
3. etch resist sharpie attatched to reprap http://youtu.be/QmgCw6b3d3Q
4. turning a 3d printer into a pcb CNC miller. (could be done with a reprap) http://youtu.be/AorVxw305DA
5. conductive ABS filament ( it has some resistance) http://youtu.be/Z8uWpXMxMi8

[LesterCHall]

Hi avocadobaby, my apologies for taking so long to get back to you. I am familiar with or have at least imagined 3, 4 and 5. 1 and 2 are new to me. i'll tell you my current approach in my next post, at this point I'd just like to say that it will take experimentation in all of these and more approaches before we discover what is truly practical for this application.

Les

[LesterCHall]

I'm not sure where I left off on this, just thought I'd mention where I'm at now on both an emotional and a 3D printing of circuit boards perspective.

I have moved into an assisted living facility and I love it! There have been some adjustments and some conflict, but we appear to have resolved all issues. I get exercise walking to the dining room and playing Pop Flux (written by Anonymous, excellent Wii-like free game for iPhone) which has helped the biological machine to function much better lol. Plus I'm making friends, having a good time, and of course 3D printing up a storm. i only wish the printer were faster so I could print more. Anyway, thanks to those who offered perspective, I do appreciate that you care enough about someone you don't even know to be so encouraging.

On the circuit board frontier, I am currently planning to use the Tinnit / CopperFill approach that I thought up (probably among others). Tinnit is a product that tin plates copper chemically - not electrochemically, just chemically. You buy two small bags of white crystals which look identical but are really different chemicals, you put them in the right amount of warm water and stir, then immerse your circuit board in the solution and watch as the copper receives a tin plated coating like magic.

So the approach is to get some CopperFill, print a PCB on PLA with the CopperFill as traces, lightly sand the traces with automotive sandpaper to expose the copper dust / particles, then immerse in Tinnit solution. I read that Tinning coats the copper with a 10 micron thick layer, and we print in 100 micron layers in which I guesstimate there are far more than 10 particles - so you see the math, we should get a conducting layer atop our traces.

That's the plan anyway, I get paid in six days so I'll order some PLA and some CopperFill, I already have the Tinnit. It's worth a try anyway, especially since this method allows for 3D PCBs...

Les