convert robo3d into cnc

hi everyone,
love my robo3d!
im curious if anyone has tried to convert it into a CNC router to make PCBs with.
Essentially, everything is there, besides the holder for a dremel. im wondering if its feasible to remove the 3d printer print head, and replace it with a holder for the dremel.

any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

I would imagine its no where near sturdy enough for that. That would be a lot of extra weight and force, and its already not the most solid assembly without having the head digging into things.

 

hm I didn't quite think of the extra weight and force, thanks for your input!

 

It's definitely not rigid enough for any type of milling, but a laser diode may be fun to experiment with.

 

You could use a Dremel and slow the speed. The best way is print the parts needed, check out novice experts vids for arduino and do to instructables.com. You will be flooded with information.

 

@cdsl810 do u know of any laser diodes that will cut copper? this sounds like an expensive experiment haha but yes would be awesome and wouldn't have to deal with Dremel tips going dull.

@Captain McGillacutty I've seen a lot of inscrutables but was just hoping to reuse the robo3d so I wouldn't have to invest too much time making my own

 

Robo could do some VERY light cnc cutting. Like enough to mill through some PCB on copper with a lightweight rotary tool/dremel

 

You could always just print the board and fill the channels with conductive paint like what was done here:

http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printing-3D-Print-A-Solderless-Circuit-Board/?ALLSTEPS

 

to be more specific I'd probably only want to do pcbs with it, so how much torque would that require? a very small lightweight dremel thinger that I'm not sure if exists yet might work? lol I can have it not do through holes it would basically just have to scrape the copper away.

the inscrutables is definitely a fair practice but I'm trying to basically use exact parts on my final board and those parts require higher resolution then what the printer can do (or maybe I should invest in some larger development size Lego bricks since that's all these boards will ever be) .

I also may try to print a sharpy holder and have it draw the footprint, I just wanted to try the cnc idea because id like to experiment with non chemical methods, and I can almost never get a good toner transfer with an iron :/

 

I think the ROBO may ultimately not be rigid enough for the uber-precise movements required for PCB milling while handling the torque of a rotary cutting tool. The other problem is that the runout of a Dremmel will only add to the inaccuracy... I don't think anything else would fit.

 

If i remember correctly there a hand held extension to the dremel that is quite light weight might work with very slow speeds and stuff (do not know the exact english vocabulary for machining). But what you could do is just fix a marker to the print head to cover certain parts and then desolve the rest away, a bit like that

 

A dremel with this attachment hooked to the robo might be "ok". http://amzn.com/B0000302Y8 I would exercise caution since additive manufacturing is far less stressful on the machine than subtractive. You could always make a small MPCNC machine. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:724999

Or this little guy,
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:729365