Hi Mahmood,

Congratulations. I too use a machine to produce boards, an LPKF C60. So I can tell you from experience that Oliver is correct on both counts. Breaking the tools is part of the learning curve, as is learning that pushing them past their functional lifetime is more costly than thrifty. Also, you can indeed get a lot of boards made for the cost of the machine. Moreover, the consumables you will use making your own boards are not free. That means that you are probably never going to realize any savings over the lifetime of the machine.

But don't take this as cause to be discouraged. There are other reasons to make your own boards. I have two. One is to keep proprietary information proprietary. The other is to get my boards when I need them. The turnaround time for outsourced boards is either weeks, or the cost is exorbitant. In fact, when done using the cost of comparable turnaround times, the CNC machine cost analysis becomes quite favorable.

There are a couple more things you'll need to think about in the near future, and Oliver pointed at them with his comment about plated through holes. You will need to look into your options for providing continuity between layers. If you only do two layers, it's technically possible to solder jumpers through the vias and holes, but with high part/via counts it becomes very impractical. As long as you don't go more than 6 layers you can use a conductive paste or epoxy to "plate" your through holes. For more than 6 layers (fewer with high aspect ratio holes) and you will need to set up to do electroplating.

Of course, if you do more than 2 layers you'll have to set up a lamination press.

Finally, you are going to need to set up to apply a solder mask, especially if you are making boards with fine pitch parts. It's just not practically optional.

Let me know if you run into any problems I can help with. Been there done that, as they say. Good luck.

Joe