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I want to create my own PCBs for prototyping and hobby purposes. I have experimented with buying them in China, which is cheap but not very fast. No idea on the quality either, but for $5 for 5 boards, you can never go wrong.

I have checked local manufacturers, but a prototype board easily goes for €75, which is too much for experimenting.

So I was wondering what would be a solution to make them at home. When researching, I find some CNC machines but I fail to understand how I could make PCB with that.

I thought perhaps some kind of 3D printer could do the trick, but no idea where I could find that or if it even exists.

I am fine with spending money, but the price per board should be low and the process should be easy.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ DIY PCBs at home and "process should be easy" is kinda self excluding. You are often pretty limited in terms of track width/size/mask/layers and so on so.. Taking a week or so to get PCBs from China is not that bad. Alternatively, you could try more point to point construction, etc. I've personally tried etching, machining, thermal and photo transfer, pens, etc etc and I've never done any PCBs at home after I started having them made by a proper fab house. \$\endgroup\$
    – Wesley Lee
    Feb 4, 2021 at 18:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ FWIW, I've gotten 4 layer boards from China to the USA in 6 calendar days. Keeping board sizes compact, using common colors, etc tends to lead to fast turn around times. Do you need faster than that? Going to be a fair amount of work. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1850479
    Feb 4, 2021 at 18:11
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    \$\begingroup\$ I'm waiting on some boards from China, total $25 USD for 10 pieces, including shipping. They were ordered Sunday morning Shenzhen time. It's Thursday. They might be here later today or tomorrow. I've made PCBs myself using a bunch of different methods, it's messy, time consuming & the resulting quality is generally inferior to vastly inferior to factory made boards. Of course you can invest in all the equipment & make nice boards, but beyond single-sided it become not just expensive, but very expensive & tricky to deal with the chemicals- their sourcing, their maintenance, & their disposal. \$\endgroup\$
    – Spehro Pefhany
    Feb 4, 2021 at 18:16
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    \$\begingroup\$ Having made PCBs at home, the quality you will get from China will make your homemade PCBs ashamed. \$\endgroup\$
    – Math Keeps Me Busy
    Feb 4, 2021 at 19:30
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    \$\begingroup\$ All of the above said, the CNC method you're asking about just takes a solid coated circuit board and cuts away the copper wherever you don't want it. It has its challenges and high startup cost, but it's the lowest effort of the decently accurate home methods. If you set up your jigs properly, double sided is no problem. That said a board house board is still nicer. Plated and filled vias give you a lot of options, not just a good connection, but they can be used for thermal control or used in excess to improve a multilayer circuit without a bunch of extra labor. \$\endgroup\$
    – K H
    Feb 5, 2021 at 1:20

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