Circuit Board

3/14/18

Today I started my circuit board project. To start, I use the milling machine to engrave into a piece of copper. Make sure the piece is stuck down, and you can still see bits of the black outline around it. Once this is finished, start up the computer.

Follow the EXACT instructions written on the screen. It is a step by step process, and only takes a minute. All the materials are there for you.

Once you are finished following all the instructions, the machine will start on its own if the lid is closed. Wait until it finishes engraving, and when ALL PARTS HAVE STOPPED MOVING, open the lid and use the chisel to remove the circuit board from the machine. There are three diagrams on the piece of copper so you have extra boards in case you mess up.

3/16/18

Take your circuit board over to the laser cutter and grab the cutting jig. Slide the board into the hole COPPER SIDE DOWN. If the copper is face up, the laser will simply reflect off the board.

Open up a file on the computer called Circuit Board Cutout.ai. This is a premade file that you DO NOT need to change. Open up the file and click print.

Make sure the proper printer is selected, and go into preferences and change the settings according to the jig. Vector only, Speed 30%, Power 50%, and Frequency 100Hz. Auto focus, and change the piece size to 24x18.

Print at least twice, and then take the board out. You will have to carefully snap the board into 3 pieces. Take the best one, and put the other 2 in the drawer for your hour.

Head on over to a soldering station. Turn on one of the soldering irons, and grab the instruction sheet. Collect your materials from the drawers, MAKING SURE THE RESISTOR MATCHES THE LED. Take out one of all the pieces you need.

Begin soldering. The best way to do this is to hold the iron(which should be at 650 degrees or so) on the plate to heat it up, then the wire should melt on contact. Make small globs on the places where you will wire things. Make sure to not get any solder on the silver lines of the board. Follow the diagram on the paper as best as you can.

The solder will harden very quickly, so once you get the proper amount, grab the item you want to place down, and hold it on the hardened material. Then melt the material beneath it, and the piece should stick in the right place. This is shown in the picture below.

Continue this process with the other pieces. make sure the silver side of the switch is facing up, and the green side of the LED is facing towards the switch. On my board, however, the battery holder was set up backwards, so I needed to switch the direction of the LED in order to make mine work. The tweezers are VERY helpful in this process.

When you are finished soldering all the pieces on, put a battery into the holder, making sure the negative and positive sides are in the correct places. If you did all the soldering correctly, the light should turn on. I was successful on my first try, and the light turned on right away. This project was a success, although it was very difficult to put so many small pieces together.