Little CNC Machine

Permitted applications

Extracted from manual, to be reworked into more definitive list.

• Printed circuit boards and front plates
  • One sided and double sided boards
    • FR3
    • FR4
    • FR5
    • G10
• Flexible substrates
• RF substrates
• Drilling test adapters
• Structuring film patterns
• Solder frames for PCB assembly
• SMD fine line
• Contour milling
• Engraving front panels or labels
• Depth drilling of rigid or flexible boards
• Depanelling and reworking of populated and unpopulated boards
• Machining of housings
• Multilayer PCBs up to 8 layers

COM port configuration

Ensure the COM port is configured in the OS device manager as follows:

• 57600 bps
• 8 data bits
• 0 parity bits
• 1 stop bit
• Hardware flow control

As a failback procedure, If it won't connect with correct port settings try this:

1. Power the 4 way strip
2. Ensure the compressed air connector is connected and pressurised
3. Power on the PC if off
4. Switch OFF the mill at the switch to the right by the power connector
5. Load the Boardmaster software from the shortcut on the desktop
6. Splashscreen appears - wait for 10-20 seconds for the connection failure dialogue to appear
7. Ensure COM1 is selected and power on the CNC
8. Select connect
9. In the dialogue that appears:
   1. Select "In the main clamp"
   2. Enter "1" in "Enter the free tool position"
10. Click OK on remove tool to toolbox
11. Machine will locate tool 1 then relocate to home and the software loads ready to use

Startup procedure

1. Ensure Computer, Vacuum and S100 are powered on (should all be one power strip to the left of the machine.
2. Open Boardmaster 5.1 from the desktop icon
3. The tool status dialogue will open
   1. If there is a tool in the head, ensure there is an empty tool position, select "In the main clamp" and specify the empty tool position (left to right 1-10)
   2. If there is no tool in the head, ensure none of the radio buttons are selected, keep the free tool position at 0 and press OK
4. You are now in the main Boardmaster interface for control of the CNC.

Troubleshooting

• No gas pressure
  • Connect gas hose
  • Ensure compressor is on
  • The gas pressure requirement is quite high, run the air to trigger the compressor to achieve sufficient pressure
• Error presented on screen
  • There is no way to cancel these
  • Press solve 2-3 times until it claims to have solved the error
  • Press the X in the top right until the box clears (Usually 5-6 times)

Example configuration data