User Manual?

[nicksmrvil]

Is there a user guide supplied with this machine? There is only a quick start guide and a tutorial available as pdf documents but some aspects of the software are not explained.

Nick

[Denford Admin]

Not as yet

I see what you mean about some of the features though - things like sorting batch jobs is not really gone into.

Let us know what you think is missing and we'll get working on a more advanced tutorial...

[nicksmrvil]

I was expecting you to be telling me that it had been left out or I was and idiot for not knowing where to look.... I would not have expected a hardware or software product like this to be shipped without any effective instructions.

However...moving on:

1. The tutorial refers to using a pan/tilt/zoom facility to see where the cutter is too wide for the space between the tracks or pads. It does not tell you how to do this.
2. The written Quick Start guide does not match the photo-guide insofar that when setting the cutter depth, you have to switch on the spindle - result is one broken cutter.
3. Flipping the board to display the track side correctly for machining seems to do so by turning it on the edge rather than the centre line, thereby moving it across. Can this be adjusted?
4. Even with a 0.25mm diameter cutter fitted, it appears not to be able to cut between the pads of an i.c. or transistor (the design was imported from Circuit Wizard). I find this hard to believe - is there a way overiding the minimum setting?
5. Could there not be contextual help available for the software?

Regards,

Nick

[Denford Admin]

Hi thanks for the feedback - I'll make sure the right people get to action them

4. Even with a 0.25mm diameter cutter fitted, it appears not to be able to cut between the pads of an i.c. or transistor (the design was imported from Circuit Wizard). I find this hard to believe - is there a way overiding the minimum setting?

I've just run the Gerber wizard here and am able to set the cutter diameter as small as 0.050mm which would create a track offset of 0.025mm (25Microns) - I doubt if you could find a cutter that small !
So, I'm not sure why it would be different on your machine - have ou updated to the latest version from here:
https://www.website.denford.ltd.uk/suppo ... -downloads

[nicksmrvil]

Thanks for that. The cutter issue has been resolved by setting the size as you suggest. Any ideas about my points 1 and 3?

I am also unsure about setting the feed rate. When I used the default setting it moved far too quickly. By using the manual overide I could slow things down but it was more by luck and guesswork that what I ended up with seemed to work. Is there a table of feed rates recommended for the various cutters and drill sizes?

Regards,

Nick

[Denford Admin]

Because the PCB engraver was designed to be a simple control system, it has a fixed feedrate. Obviously you can alter the feed override to slow things down, but if you are doing much the same kind of jobs, and always need to reduce the feed, then you can change the default in parameters:
Goto menu Options > Setup Parameters enter denny as the password.

pcb-engraver1.jpg (19.68 KiB) Viewed 19597 times

Click on Parameters and change the value for programfeed from 1000mm/min to something that works for you...

pcb-engraver2.jpg (72.43 KiB) Viewed 19597 times

[Denford Admin]

1. The tutorial refers to using a pan/tilt/zoom facility to see where the cutter is too wide for the space between the tracks or pads. It does not tell you how to do this.

All our software works by utilising combinations of mouse movement, buttons and sometimes the scroll wheel. I guess its second nature to us here that we've forgotten to mention it in the tutorial.
Zoom: Hold down Right Mouse Button and move mouse up/down
Rotate: Hold down Left Mouse Button and move mouse up/down/left/right
Pan: Hold down Both Mouse Buttons and move up/down/left/right

3. Flipping the board to display the track side correctly for machining seems to do so by turning it on the edge rather than the centre line, thereby moving it across. Can this be adjusted?
I think I understand what you mean by this...do you mean the mirroring of tracks should not move the position of them relative to the board ? see attached screenshots...

[nicksmrvil]

Thanks for the further information. I am now the master of pan, zoom and tilt!

The screen shots do show what I mean by my question in point 3. My concern is that it leaves an inaccessible margin on the left hand side of the board although it may be that when the design is loaded for maching this blank area is ignored when it comes to positioning.

Regards,

Nick

[Denford Admin]

You can see the datum symbol on the board - at it's very bottom left corner. That is the same position that you set the datum in the software, so the board would be machined too far to the right. In my screenshot, the problem is exaggerated because I've increased the width of the board.

I'm trying to think of a reason why it mirrors this way...I do get the feeling that it is correct though, because if you wanted to machine the top side, then things wouldn't line up with the bottom machining
eg, if your board is 100mm wide and you put a hole 5mm in from the left and flip the board, then it must appear 95mm across from the left ....

[Steve]

I believe it has to mirror in the way shown as the board could be double sided and the image has to mirror to line up with the top side.

To do this the board size would have to be accuratly measured and positioned.

If your only cutting single sided then set the board size automatically or manually to suround the tracks. Then flipping will be around the centre.