Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Laser "route" Printed Circuit Boards

Roland Jollivet wrote:

> Laser drilling of via's is not new, maybe 10 years old. And yes, pulsed Yag.
> If you look at any compact board from the east, the via's are barely
> visible. All laser drilled, at a hellish rate.
>
> I still think (without trying) that good resolution PCB etching could be
> obtained using a fine wire and EDM or ECM in a raster format.
>

There is a machine that does this in air, with an EDM-like process.
They use
a flexible substrate that is wrapped around a rotating drum, and a wire
is mounted
on a carriage that moves axially. I thought it was LPKF, but don't see
that process
on their web site now. They may have stopped making this system, or it was
one of their competitors. It most certainly did work, but I don't know
what the
quality was.

Jon