[jonmrodriguez]

Let me start by saying that I agree that desktop electronics manufacturing will be the "next big thing" in the maker movement, and I am a huge fan.

However, this article does not mention two very important issues. In order to make a circuit board of any interesting complexity (i.e. more than an Arduino and a few LEDs), you need more than 2 copper layers to route your traces on. And, you need VIAs (Vertical Interconnect Access), which are columns of copper that make electrical connections between the layers.

I have used a PCB mill and while it is very useful for making extremely simple circuits, it only lets you mill 2-layer boards, and it does not let you make VIAs (instead you have to manually drill a hole through the board and solder a pin into the hole, and this approach has a much much larger diameter than a real via).

In order to be interesting for "maker" goals such as Linux machines, IoT, and robotics, there needs to be a desktop fab solution that can at the very least make 4-layer boards, with VIAs.

[Htsthbjig]

"via" comes from latin, it means " a place to travel trough".

For example in Spain "autovia" means via for autos or "tranvia" means a vehicle that goes over rails. "Via pecuaria" means a road for animal transport.

You can do lots of useful things with just two layers. We prototype professional electronics in house with just two layers and modules(over a big area), then shrink the design, use more layers and get it done using a professional service.

[userbinator]

I have worked in the electronics industry for over a decade and this is the first time I've ever heard the phrase "vertical interconnect access", so I suspect it's a backronym.

Looks like some others at Wikipedia are similarly surprised:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Via_(electronics)

[Animats]

Commercial services for making PC boards are so competitive [1] that making them yourself is rarely worth the trouble. The standard photochemical process is quite good, better than any of the do-it-yourself processes. (In Shentzen, you can get 4-hour turnaround at no extra charge.) Machines for milling one-off boards have been around for decades, but they've never been used much.

Small-scale solder paste printing and pick and place is more useful. Those are hard to do by hand, expensive to get done for one-offs, and solder paste/place/reflow all have to be done in close sequence. Reflow ovens are easy; toaster ovens with special temperature controllers are often used.

[1] http://www.ladyada.net/wiki/tutorials/library/pcb/manufactur...

[cmatteri]

Shouldn't the mill be able to precisely drill very small holes for you? Perhaps you could you use the pick and place machine to put small pins in the holes which would be soldered in place on both sides. You could conceivably use one 2-layer board and two 1-layer boards, each with alignment holes drilled in them, pins inserted and solder paste applied to make a 4-layer board. There would be a thin gap between the boards, but since everything is soldered together, would it matter?

[rebootthesystem]

"via" is not an acronym.

Other than that your comment is exactly on point.