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Step-by step PCB milling tutorial.

Board preparation

Required software

Make sure you have following tools installed:

Kicad or Eagle
pcb2gcode - conversion of Gerber files to G-code
pcb2gcodeGUI - GUI for pcb2gcode
Camotics - G-code simulator for verification (optional)
hacked_cnc - control, visualization and G-code leveling (optional, installed on linuxcnc host)

On Fedora pcb2gcode(GUI) can be installed from packages:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">dnf install pcb2gcode pcb2gcodeGUI</syntaxhighlight>

Kicad export

Note: it's better to export gerbers and gcode to separate folder, sometimes you need to re-export stuff to correct for errors and you don't want to mix files between revisions.

To export Gerber files from Kicad

choose File -> Plot
set Plot format to Gerber (default)
set Exclude PCB edge from other layer
select layers to export - depending on your design this is either F.Cu or B.Cu and Edge.Cuts layers
click Plot on the bottom of the window
click Generate Drill file next to Plot
set Drill Units to Millimeters
set Drill Origin to Absolute
click Drill File button on the right side of the window

G-Code conversion

To convert Gerbers to G-code use either pcb2gcode from command line or pcb2gcodeGUI.

Make sure to set correct drill side, if your design is on F.Cu you want to drill from the front side (--dril-side=front) and vice versa.

If you don't want to switch tools for drilling choose One drill option (--onedrill=true) which merges all drill operations to one file (bit size).

Simulation / preview

You can verify if everything is correct by importing all files to Camotics G-code simulator.

Ideally your board should start at positive X, Y coordinates with lower left corner near X0/Y0.

File upload

Upload folder to LinuxCNC machine:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">scp -r project/ base@linuxcnc.base48.cz:<your_nick>/</syntaxhighlight>

Machining

Machine preparation

Start linuxcnc machine (reachable at linuxcnc.base48.cz)
Start machine controller
Start cooling pump
Pick a V-shaped tool from the box and install it

Clamping

Make sure to clamp PCB blank as good as possible as it's critical for the outcome of the leveling and milling.

Clamp PCB blank on top of piece of wood with at least 4 clamps
Make sure RED wire is touching the PCB, it has to be put under one of the clamps so it won't come loose

LinuxCNC

Start LinuxCNC by running base_mill shortcut on the desktop
Enable machine control by disabling emergency stop (F1) and enabling power (F2)
Position the machine with arrow keys to a starting point (bottom left corner of your future pcb)
Home each axis of the machine, don't forget to home A axis as well
Load F.Cu or B.Cu G-code file
Try moving machine around displayed job to make sure it can actually reach all sides of the job without collisions
Switch to MDI tab (F5) (all the required commands in the following section should be present in the history)
- To get to the starting point run G0 X0 Y0
- To home Z-axis use G38.2 Z-100 F30
- Go back to manual tab and re-home Z axis

Leveling

Switch to workspace 3, open terminal and find a directory with your jobs G-code files
Run pcb2gcode_postproc.py in that folder
Switch to workspace 4, find terminals with hacked_cnc directories
In the first terminal (~/hacked_cnc) run

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">./hcc server --linuxcnc</syntaxhighlight>

In the second terminal (~/hacked_cnc/hc/ui/probe/) run

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">./probe.py</syntaxhighlight>

Open postprocessed file in probe GUI e.g. proj_front_post.ngc
Check if there are enough probe points for the size of your board and andjust if not
Probing first goes to -margin which means it will start at X-3 (default margin of 3mm) if your board stars at X0, make sure there's enough free space for this move if you're tight on the space of the blank PCB - the margin has to be at least 1mm for leveling to work
Run Run Probe
When probing is done run Process
File is automatically saved with lvl_ prefix when processing is done
Now switch back to LinuxCNC window and load suffixed file

Milling

Start job with blue arrow button
Hope for the best, abort with F1 if stuff goes wrong

Adjusting milling depth

If your board is not milled deep enough

Stop job with F1
Disable safety stop by pressing F1 again
In MDI tab
- Move machine to Z1 with G0 Z1
- Set machine position to e.g. Z1.1 to add 0.1mm with G92 Z1.1

Drilling

Load drill file (e.g. drill_post.ngc)
Install correct drill bit
To re-establish Z height again
- Go to Manual tab (F3) and position a head outside of the milled PCB near clamp with probing wire attached so probing is possible, then few millimeters on top of the spot but don't try to make contact
- Go to MDI tab (F5) and issue probing command G38.2 Z-100 F30
- Go back to manual tab and re-home Z axis
Start drilling job

Outline

Load outline file (e.g. outline_post.ngc)
Load 3.175mm endmill
Go to manual tab a re-establish Z height again by positioning tool slightly over the board
re-home Z axis
Start job

Post-processing

Clean your board with sandpaper and alcohol
Use flux spray
Leave a board on a warm place for a while
Clean-up and power down the machine meanwhile, remove tool from tool holder
Take pictures
Solder components
Profit

Gallery

Feel free to upload pictures of your finished PCBs and add link(s) to following gallery:

Oldstuff mov to git

pcb2gcode

 git clone https://github.com/pcb2gcode/pcb2gcode

sample make_gcode script

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">#!/bin/bash

pcb2gcode \ --front=front-gerber-F.Cu.gtl \ --back=back-gerber-B.Cu.gbl \ --drill=drill.drl \ --outline=Edge.Cuts.gm1 \ --output-dir=gcode \ --dpi=1000 \ --metric=true \ --metricoutput=true \ --mirror-absolute=false \ --optimise=true \ --tile-x=1 --tile-y=1 \ --vectorial=false \ --zchange=20.0000 \ --zero-start=true \ --zsafe=2.0000 \ --extra-passes=3 \ --mill-feed=450 \ --mill-speed=24000 \ --offset=0.1500 \ --zwork=-0.0500 \ --drill-feed=250 \ --drill-side=back \ --drill-speed=12000 \ --milldrill=false \ --nog81=false \ --onedrill=false \ --zdrill=-3.0000 \ --bridges=0.8000 \ --bridgesnum=4 \ --cut-feed=200 \ --cut-infeed=1.0000 \ --cut-side=back \ --cut-speed=24000 \ --cutter-diameter=3.1750 \ --fill-outline=true \ --outline-width=0.2000 \ --zbridges=-0.0500 \ --zcut=-1.7000</syntaxhighlight>