Proteus Software

[cncmachineguy]

Hey guys, thanks for the insight! I went ahead and bought the software as for me it seemed the pros outweight the cons. I hope to enjoy the software as much as Darrel does, but only time will tell. The PCB design already seems it will pay for itself.

@Dave, thanks for the info on the V90. I have been thinking about a small mill for some time. That looks like a pretty nice system. BTW, if you want/need any info on CNC machining just ask, I've been in this business for about 18 years now. Happy to lend a hand.

[mackrackit]

Thanks Bert.
The biggest problem so far was getting the bed level with the gantry. Now I think a floating cutting head would be the best way to go. Along with a vacuum table.

[cncmachineguy]

Vac tables are really cool. Just remember a shop vac doesn't really pull any vacuum. I measured it once and it got to maybe 1 inch of mercury.The best is if you cann afford a true vacuum pump Gast brand is really good. next best thing is a vacuum generator. They run from compressed air and will get 29 inches with a good seal. Downside is there is now a great deal of flow.

The clamping force boils down to this: ((vac in inches)/2)*surface area in inches. so for instance: 4x6 card is 24 in^2 with a vac of 29, you get 29/2=14.5*24=348 lbs of force. Sounds like a lot, but keep in mind when milling all the forces are side forces.

but you can quickly see why the shop vac won't work it would have 12 lbs of clamping force!!

[mackrackit]

Thanks again Bert. I made a note of your calcs. Looks like the vac table could end up costing more than the mill...

[cncmachineguy]

If you already have compressed air, the generators are pretty cheap, 30-60 dollars. If not then they can get pricy to set up. I've used this in the shop for a vac jig:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#vacuum-generators/=aj7hr9
part number : 41605K14
But I think double sided tape may work just as well for what you are doing.

[mackrackit]

Cheaper than I thought. Looks like I will be ordering one.

The problem with double sided tape is the thickness, it is not consistent. For through the hole stuff it is fine, but for SMD a thousandth or two makes a big difference. Super glue works "OK". Either one is slow. So for the one or two offs it is doable... any kind of production....

But it is still better than the chemical solution.

Thanks again Bert!!!

[cncmachineguy]

I posted this on the labcenter forum, but after 3 days, still no love. All you folks are much more responsive so I thought I would ask here.

As a brand spanking new user of ISIS and ARES and VSM, I am stumped on my first circuit. I need to use 2 IC's, neither of which are in the library's. First is a MAX3311, second is a TD62783AP. Now I can create these for the schamatic and PCB purpose, but how should I go about Simulating my circuit? Should I just put something in thats close (like a dual RS-232 driver for the 3311). Or do I create them as I know how, but somehow leave them out of the SIM?

Thanks for any help on this NON-PBP question

[mister_e]

Hey guys, thanks for the insight! I went ahead and bought the software as for me it seemed the pros outweight the cons. I hope to enjoy the software as much as Darrel does, but only time will tell. The PCB design already seems it will pay for itself.

Good, keep user posted here, sure enough there's a ton who also want to hear about it and how you manage the debugging to work with PBP.

Some good advices over there I guess:
http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/show...6303#post96303