iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

hmm, maybe i dismissed the idea of just using some wire too quickly. i figured this would be a tremendous pain to do; it's incredibly encouraging that you've had a good time with it. ill give this a try! thank you dude!!

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WHAT dude that is SO SICK. really cool way you went about it too!

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oh awesome; just opened my DMs!

It's an F1 Ultra from xTool! Using the 20W IR in it for all these steps!

is that fr4? i found that fr1 worked much better in my experience!

Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 31/12/2024

finally finished the fiber laser vid! you can check out the full version on yt: youtu.be/wAiGCyZZq6w

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glad to hear! we are aggressively working on making the software experience much better, look out for some big updates soon! 😁

Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 28/12/2024

what??? that is INSANELY cool. the fomo for 38C3 is very bad rn

Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 20/12/2024

yes, but in my experience it’s not quite as consistent. drilling heats things up a ton, and i’ve had copper delam on me. drilling before etching traces helps with heat dissipation tho! still working on tuning that, along with vias/double sided boards

Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 19/12/2024

silkscreen is now in play. etched the blue layer where text should go, squeegeed white into the voids, wiped clean, then etched the normal soldermask layer

pcb made on a fiber laser with a soldermask layer

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 19/12/2024

lots of tests today with drilling and cutting with the fiber laser, resulted in a fully operational board!

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 13/12/2024

oh dude, i am STOKED to see what you do with a plotter

that’s the real value add of this process imo. it feels like running a 3d print. i do something else while it’s running, then give it a light sand and it’s done (assuming no solder mask). no acid to deal with!

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i do the first one! apply the mask everywhere then remove it with a lower power only on the pads

working on it now! i’ll put it all into a github repo, i’ll be sure to share here when im done

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How to Solder Mask PCBs #Adafruit

ah right, their PCB kit comes with that little roller for mask application? i’m using a transparency sheet to spread it evenly like this: youtu.be/wvU2yyfH-XE?...

youtu.be

YouTube video by Adafruit Industries

would be SO cool. iterating on PCBs as fast as 3d printed parts.

that’s the next test! it’s pretty hard to drill deep with this laser unfortunately, but i have a cheeky method with some super thin copper clad blanks that i think might work.

there’s a little angle bracket i used for realignment, but i’m also doing a quick alignment etch on the soldermask to double check and adjust before going full send!

single sided PCB, fully fabricated on my bench in under an hour using a fiber laser. i’m STOKED.

single sided pcb with solder mask fabricated on a fiber laser

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you read my mind 😁 going to try for one as part of this series! being able to drill holes for vias is huge

this is FR1! i’d like to try fr4 to see how it pans out tho! it’s actually leftover blank from when i had that mill as well!

i’m putting all my workflow notes and settings in a repo once i have it tuned, but iirc im running a unidirectional raster at 240 passes per cm, 100% power (20w fiber IR) and 600mm/s with 10 passes. lots of quick, dense passes doesn’t burn the FR4 but will ablate the copper. on the F1 Ultra!

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sweet! what laser are you working with?

Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 07/12/2024

crazy results making pcbs on the fiber laser so far. playing with soldermask now!

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managed to make a working PCB on an SLA 3D printer! full vid on yt now: youtu.be/lX7dRaOLtZk

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 04/12/2024

haven’t tried fr4 yet, but i do have the big filter that seems to work great for ply and aluminum so far!

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 04/12/2024

this is exactly how i felt about milling, bantam did the best so far but they stopped making the small mill and IIRC gerber processing is gated behind a subscription. glad to hear makera is working towards it!

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 03/12/2024

it is! i’m in the same boat, i want an acid free, fast, consistent process. i’m going to be running a bunch of tests and trying to get a process nailed down!

Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 03/12/2024

just got my hands on a fiber laser! with some tuning i think this thing could be an incredible tool for quickly prototyping pcbs.

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 03/12/2024

very very cool, love the partial lid design. the whole visual design of this project has been an absolute joy to watch unfold.

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 30/11/2024

i tried factorio on my switch and felt that the controls paled in comparison to keyboard and mouse. is the steam deck better in that regard?

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 21/11/2024

this section resonated with me most. Bambu didn’t take any design inspiration from Prusa, they did from the Voron community! something Prusa could have done years ago.

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 16/11/2024

i love these so much 😭😭😭

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 12/11/2024

after spending the weekend working on a multi-container docker project, it’s clear that containers both 1) GREATLY simplify things, and 2) GREATLY complicate things, in very different ways.

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Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 07/11/2024

sweet! yeah a totally underrated fab technique. plus you can put sick patterns/art embedded into them! i’m stoked to see your project! :D

Stephen Hawes @stephenhawes.com · 07/11/2024

YESSSS structural PCBs are sick! you’re thinking about using one as a flexture? or as a rigid geometry?