I am potentially wanting to do some custom PCb work for a project and I am curious if the board goblin is still present in ERP. Additionally is it working? If so, what does the authorization/access policy like ok like?
-Adam
2 Likes
Last I knew it would workish, if you knew how. Last time I tried to run it it tried to take itself apart. But I’ve seen other people use it to great effect. One time we lasercut acrylic badges and used the Board goblin to cut people’s names in the badge for an event. It was pretty cool.
I think I would use oshpark, or spraypaint/lasercutter/cupric cchloride (or whatever that is called) but if you get that thing going post pics! I have fond memories of that thing.
One thing Though, I think it needs a parallel port. That may be why it’s gone by the wayside. Superlube would probably do it some good too.
James Seymour
Some weirdo
MakeICT
Earth
Wichita Ks 67214
···
On Wed, Mar 5, 2025, 14:23 Adam Denton via MakeICT Forum <noreply@talk.makeict.org> wrote:
| K0PSK Committee Lead
March 5 |
- | - |
I am potentially wanting to do some custom PCb work for a project and I am curious if the board goblin is still present in ERP. Additionally is it working? If so, what does the authorization/access policy like ok like?
-Adam
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I am not familiar with the “Board Goblin”, and would likely not recognize it if I saw it. But if it uses a (now obsolete) parallel port, if it is stepper-based, and if it is still otherwise useful, I would be in favor of asking the board for another Mesa 7i96s ($149.00+) to convert it from parallel port to ethernet. Comments?
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I probably wouldn’t recommend putting much money or effort into rehabilitating this machine. I’ve used it few times in the past and I have a soft spot for it (the guy who built it is pretty cool, too) but it has a variety of… quirks. It is very homemade, the X and Y axes aren’t quite perpendicular and the bed isn’t flat, among other things. I worked around this by adding a mesh leveling routine and writing a Python script to skew the coordinates in the gcode so that double-sided boards would line up on both sides. This probably isn’t necessary for small or single-sided boards, but overall it’s pretty finicky to use.
If I were milling a board my first choice would be the blue or black mill using the high speed air spindle for engraving traces (and maybe for drilling small holes), then swap to the electric spindle for cutting board outline if required. Unless the board is quite small I would still set up a mesh leveling routine since FR4 tends to not be super flat, and fluctuations in engraving depth can cause issues pretty quickly. And definitely use a spoilboard if any drilling or milling is planned.
The fireball could also be a good option, if it were functional. If someone had the inclination to fix up a CNC mill, I would direct effort/money toward that instead of the Board Goblin.
All that being said, aside from learning a new skill, the main advantages to milling your own board are fast turnaround (once you learn the process) and low cost for relatively simple projects. It really depends on the specifics of the project: number of components, through-hole or surface-mount, complexity of the layout, minimum trace width needed, how many copies you plan to make, etc, etc. These days I generally go straight from breadboard prototype (solderless or soldered) to ordering from a board house.
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Ordering boards has become much more reasonable in recent years.
James Seymour
And his beard
MakeICT
Somewhere south of north
Wichita Ks 67214
···
On Fri, Mar 7, 2025, 08:37 Christian Kindel via MakeICT Forum <noreply@talk.makeict.org> wrote:
| Christian MakeICT Member
March 7 |
- | - |
Board Goblin-Circuit Board Mill - MakeICT Wiki
I probably wouldn’t recommend putting much money or effort into rehabilitating this machine. I’ve used it few times in the past and I have a soft spot for it (the guy who built it is pretty cool, too) but it has a variety of… quirks. It is very homemade, the X and Y axes aren’t quite perpendicular and the bed isn’t flat, among other things. I worked around this by adding a mesh leveling routine and writing a Python script to skew the coordinates in the gcode so that double-sided boards would line up on both sides. This probably isn’t necessary for small or single-sided boards, but overall it’s pretty finicky to use.
If I were milling a board my first choice would be the blue or black mill using the high speed air spindle for engraving traces (and maybe for drilling small holes), then swap to the electric spindle for cutting board outline if required. Unless the board is quite small I would still set up a mesh leveling routine since FR4 tends to not be super flat, and fluctuations in engraving depth can cause issues pretty quickly. And definitely use a spoilboard if any drilling or milling is planned.
The fireball could also be a good option, if it were functional. If someone had the inclination to fix up a CNC mill, I would direct effort/money toward that instead of the Board Goblin.
All that being said, aside from learning a new skill, the main advantages to milling your own board are fast turnaround (once you learn the process) and low cost for relatively simple projects. It really depends on the specifics of the project: number of components, through-hole or surface-mount, complexity of the layout, minimum trace width needed, how many copies you plan to make, etc, etc. These days I generally go straight from breadboard prototype (solderless or soldered) to ordering from a board house.
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