Update: Well T-Tech have taken themselves out of the game by telling me they can’t cut my PCB without a spindle speed of 60,000 RPM and the QC7000 bed, so that takes the price well out of the range I’m comfortable with, waiting for my cut PCB from AccurateCNC to arrive hopefully tomorrow.
I’ve spent many an hour reading over posts on PCB CNC milling, trying to get a feel for the best machine for me, I’ve looked at LPKF (too expensive), T-Tech QC5000/7000 and the AccurateCNC 360.
The T-Tech at first seems like a good bet, good price point on the QC3000, but it has a very small work area and a low speed spindle, the QC5000 is suited better to my work and still has a lower speed spindle, the upgrade is around $6,000.
Joe Grand ( kingpin ) has the QC5000 so that’s a really good recommendation right there, but after talking extensively with tech support/sales from each company , it looks like I’m going with the AccurateCNC 360.
The biggest reason for me going with AccurateCNC was just simply customer support, I want this machine primarily to revise our ECU’s and make a few updates, its the most complex PCB I’m ever likely to produce on a CNC mill, anything more complex would likely be a triple or more layer board, which you can’t mill anyway. They agreed to make me that PCB once i sent over some slightly modified gerber files ( the power polygon’s were hatched which takes for ever to drill out, so i converted them to solid )
PhCNC demo loaded with my gerber.
The software has an interesting simulation mode, it’ll simulate the cutting/drilling path etc and let you watch it cut the PCB, granted its paint dry time but it is a geeky feature. The tech said if it works here, it’ll work on the machine, I’m not falling for that one so that is why he agreed to cut the rather large PCB out for me, typically they’ll cut smaller boards of a 5cm sq but I was persuasive.
So hopefully the board will come back satisfactory!
Dr Terrible's House of Bloggable 