What do you guys think?
First you print a grooved board out using ABS filament. Then you put solder through the extruder to fill in the grooves, thus making a circuit board. Is this feasible?
Printable View
What do you guys think?
First you print a grooved board out using ABS filament. Then you put solder through the extruder to fill in the grooves, thus making a circuit board. Is this feasible?
Check the "3D News" folder. I think there is a story there about printing PCBs using a filament with silver in it. The PCB can be printed on a host of bases - paper, photograph paper etc.
To answer your question:
1. Yes you could print a grooved board.
2. Probably, depending on the melting point of the solder.
Old Man Emu
This really opens the window for what can be down in 3d printing. The majority of people that are "into" 3d Printing are techies that know a lot about circuits and circuit boards. It'll be interesting to see what ends up being produced.
This is definitely feasible. Now there are printers out there that can print entire circuit boards. I wouldn't be surprised to see a modified RepRap doing this in the future.
A quick Google search for '3d printing circuit boards' shows that this is being done, by a variety of methods. There appear to be several variations of material.
I may be making some mods to my i2 before I even finish building it. :D