PCB milling

Why should you mill PCBs?

Did you know that there is an alternative way to obtain high-quality PCBs at a good price? Although speed is vitally important in today’s competitive market, you spend most of your time waiting for suppliers. Making your own PCBs using a chemical process is environmentally unfriendly, and in most cases it is prohibited. If you nevertheless want to use a chemical process, your are confronted with very large investment costs if you want to achieve the same quality as milled PCBs.

Milling prototype PCBs is the fastest and most economical solution.

The downside of outsourcing

PCB manufacturers can supply prototype boards faster and at lower prices than in the past, but they can never match the flexibility and cost of milling your own PCBs in-house. Although PCB milling is not suitable for large production volumes, outsourcing is too slow and expensive for small volumes. We can illustrate this with an example.

Flexitronic received an order to develop a blood analysis instrument. As usual, the time to market had to be as short as possible. They needed a total of six PCBs. Each time a board design was completed, it was ordered with great haste from a PCB manufacturer. The delivery time for each board was five working days. The total delivery time was thus approximately twenty working days, which was at the limit of what was acceptable. There was a problem with one of the boards, with the result that the completed boards were finally ready on the assembly bench two months later. The cost of PCB production was 1332 euros. During initial testing, it was found that some software changes were necessary, with the result that more memory was needed on the motherboard, and there were minor errors with two of the other boards. Ramping up series production without a second round of testing was entirely unacceptable. Three new prototype boards were thus ordered, at a cost of 1105 euros. Four weeks later they were fully assembled and could be tested again. The new boards were OK, and the production run could be ordered.

This story probably sounds familiar to you. It’s not an abnormal situation, but instead part of the normal development process. The ultimate result was that the first prototype was ready ten months later than planned, and the customer was not especially happy. This even led to legal action.

How can you do better?

At Flexitronic, they examined the figures, and after careful consideration they ordered a Colinbus LaboFlex 60 Pro. After analysing the situation, they concluded that the first prototype of the blood analysis instrument could have been ready within three months. The long lead time resulted not only from the time spent waiting for the prototype boards, but also the delivery times for the enclosure, the front panel, and the mechanical parts.

The results exceed their expectations. Thanks to the LaboFlex, certain prototypes can be built within one week − not just the electronics, but a complete prototype, in the right enclosure and fully operational.

The advantages of a PCB milling machine

1. No waiting time: design the board, mill it, assemble it, and test it. If it’s not OK, make the necessary changes and test again.
2. The waiting time inherent to outsourcing causes the development engineer to lose his concentration on the project. A developer who has to wait a week for a prototype board has no other choice than to work on something else to keep busy, which is detrimental to the end result.
3. In most projects, you need several PCBs. Do you wait until all the PCB designs are ready, or do you order each one as soon as possible? In either case, the total delivery time is extended significantly. This problem does not exist when you make prototype PCBs with a milling machine. You can make the board and assemble it almost immediately.
4. Milling PCBs is much less expensive than any other method. You can recover your investment in a Colinbus machine in just a few projects.
5. And then there’s the issue of confidentiality: a lot of organisations and companies are very reluctant to have a design leave the premises, especially in the development phase. This cannot be avoided with outsourcing, but it can be avoided with in-house prototyping.
6. Colinbus machines have the unique property that they are suitable PCB milling as well as fabricating mechanical parts. The LaboFlex machines even support 3D modelling. This makes complete in-house prototyping possible.
7. There’s no minimum-quantity issue. With a PCB milling machine, you can make just as many boards as you need. This can have major financial benefits with small production volumes. You can put an end to shelves full of PCBs ordered in excess of actual need.

Colinbus: the perfect solution

Why Colinbus?

Colinbus specialises in the manufacture of PCB milling machines, and over several decades we have proven that this technology can make a valuable contribution to the development process. With the launch of the first 3D prototyping machine, the brand received international attention and respect. Colinbus is now the market leader in this technology, and we regularly demonstrate our technological lead.

Quality

Every Colinbus machine undergoes a full test procedure before it leaves the factory. The final test consists of milling an UFP PCB. Several measurements are performed automatically on this PCB, and the results are printed out. The machine is released only if the results are OK. These tests and inspections give you the assurance that every machine that leaves out factory can produce top-quality PCBs and other products.

Software and operation

All of our PCB milling machines are supplied with ColiDrive and ColiLiner. Thanks to these two software packages, machining PCBs is very easy. ColiDrive is the program that controls the machine, and it has an intuitive user interface. ColiLiner is the program that converts the files from your favourite PCB design package into tool paths. The two programs are seamlessly integrated, and they appear as one to the user. As a result, Colinbus machines are unquestionably the easiest to operate. No prior experience of any sort is necessary.

Which machine is right for you?

The choice depends on how much work you have for the machine, the desired precision, and whether you want to utilise the 3D modelling capability. All of our PCB milling machines are built according to the highest standards, but the technology used in the LaboFlex machines makes them better − they are faster, gentler, and more precise. However, they are also more expensive, and the CPR machines are certainly adequate for many purposes. A brief overview of the pros and cons of the various machines is provided below.

PCBBOX

Suitable for producing single-sided and double-sided PCBs as well as small 3D models. This small and practical machine perfectly fits in the corner of your labo table. It is suitable for milling not too complex PCBs, SMD is possible. Available also with HF-manual or automatic tool change motor. With the HF motor the machine is more precise and UFP (ultra fine pitch) PCBs can be made.

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CPR-30/PCB-HF and CPR-60/PCB-HF

Suitable for producing single-sided and double-sided PCBs. The perfect machine for schools and companies that make relatively few PCBs or do not produce high-density PCBs. The precision and speed are more than adequate for milling ordinary PCBs, including boards for SMD components.

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LaboFlex 30/HF and LaboFlex 60/HF

With a LaboFlex machine, you can make UFP, RF and microwave PCBs, as well as flexible PCBs and rigid/flex boards. You can also mill SMD stencils and 3D models with these machines. In other words, this is the highest-precision and fastest machine in the Colinbus stable. The machine for professionals.

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LaboFlex 30 Pro and LaboFlex 60 Pro

The LaboFlex Pro machines are essentially the same as the LaboFlex machines, but they are equipped with an automatic tool changer. An ideal machine for users that produce large volumes of PCBs or need to make 3D models.

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Additional interesting information

As already mentioned, there are many advantages associated with milling PCBs. Particularly with prototyping and small production volumes, it is the preferred method. We’ve put together a list of links to sources of additional information on this fascinating technology (see below). If you have any questions that are not addressed on our website, please do not hesitate to contact us.

• Special tools and accessories for PCB milling
• Download: ColiDrive User Guide
• Download: ColiLiner User Guide