| There are other ways to make PCBs with a 3D printer: Instead of etching copper, some people directly print the circuitry with a solder extruder [1]. The idea's been around for a while [2] but circuit complexity is usually very limited. Here's a guide [3] (to a similar method) that uses a hobbyist 3D printer. To improve on the article's pen-masking method, you can mount a laser instead of a pen to the 3D printer and expose a specially coated PCB [4]. Or expose UV light through an LCD [5]. One can also just mount a milling tool to the printer and cut away the copper directly [6]. A 3D printer's not designed to take the forces from milling well, so similar but specially designed machines are made [7]. The most impressive methods are geared toward industry: A cutting-edge industry-grade electronics 3D printer looks like [8]: an inkjet-style printer with conductive and insulating (dielectric) inks. Somewhat related, you can use a laser etching and electroplating process ("3D Moulded Interconnect Devices" "3D MID") to make PCBs on 3D printed weirdly shaped (i.e., definitely not flat) surfaces. [9] is an impressive example, and definitely check out a search engine's image results [10]. [1] http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2015/01/voxel8-conductive-...
[2] http://blog.reprap.org/2009/04/first-reprapped-circuit.html
[3] https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printing-3D-Print-A-Sold...
[4] https://dangerouspayload.com/2017/12/17/pcb-uv-exposure-scan...
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxl7glJMKOQ
[6] https://www.instructables.com/id/PCB-Milling-Using-a-3D-Prin...
[7] https://www.bantamtools.com/pcb-milling-machine
[8] https://www.nano-di.com/dragonfly-pro-3d-printer
[9] https://www.festo.com/group/en/cms/10157.htm
[10] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=3d+moulded+interconnect+devices&t=... |