LPKF PCB Milling Machine

ProtoMat S104

Machine status: Ready to use

Our Fab Lab has an LPKF Protomat S104 PCB mill that can create printed circuit boards from copper-clad sheets of fiber glass. It replaced our earlier S62 mill in 2019.

It can produce single- and double-sided PCBs from KiCad or Eagle layouts exported as Gerber files and Exellon drill files. A small 5x5 cm board takes about 10 minutes per side. Tool change happens automatically, a camera system helps you align dual-sided boards, and a vacuum table holds down your board. A kit for through-hole plating of vias is also available, and for SMD boards, the mill can dispense solder paste.

The material costs 15 cents (single-sided) or 30 cents (double sided) per square centimeter, based on the rectangular bounding box around your board. That's under 4 Euros for a single-sided 5x5 cm board.

In principle, the LPKF can also cut and engrave other materials like plexiglass (acrylic), some other plastics, and soft metals such as brass and aluminum. However, we have other mills and a lasercutter that are more suited to this purpose, and especially the lasercutter is much easier to use than any mill, so we leave the LPKF calibrated for PCB material (calibrating it is a pretty time-intensive process).

If you have any questions concerning the LPKF that go beyond the online documentation, email the responsible Fablab staff.

Use this tutorial to use the PCB mill

Manuals and Documentation

Designing PCBs for the Protomat

The Protomat is a machine for prototyping PCBs and can be used to quickly make prototypes without having to wait for a manufacturer to deliver.
The drawback is that the Protomat will not archieve the same quality as you're used from a professional manufacurer. Therefore, you should adhere to the following design rules as this should assure that the Protomat can actually mill your design:

  • Keep clearances above 0.2mm. We do have tools that can mill isolation paths down to 0.15mm, but we don't leave those in the machine and they are not as reliable as the bigger ones.
  • If using the dispenser: Keep SMD components on the bottom side. The Protomat won't be able to dispense on both sides without completely ruining one side.
  • Don't place planes close to hand soldering pads. Since we can't make solder masks in the FabLab, it's difficult to hand-solder components without creating shorts then.

Milling software

The LPKF is operated via the Circuit Pro 2.1.x software that is already installed on the computer next to the mill. To keep the installation clean and working, please do not use the milling PC for any other purposes than running the machining applications.

Your PCB designs have to be provided as Gerber and drill files. Most CAD programs will have an option to export those. Tutorials for KiCad and Eagle can be found here.

Circuit Pro uses our own "rwth_easy" templates by default. These templates should be used if you want to create single-sided or double-sided PCBs exported as Gerber files. Only the available tools (see below) will be used. If you need to use the milling machine for more advanced PCBs or other materials please contact the responsible Fablab staff.

Tools

We use these 19 standard tools in the automatic tool changer—please do not change them:

  • Spiral Drill: 0.4 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.6 mm, 0.7 mm, 0.8 mm, 0.9 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.2 mm, 1.4 mm, 1.5 mm, 1.6 mm, 1.8 mm, 2.0 mm, 3.0 mm
  • Universal Cutter 0.2 mm
  • Micro Cutter 0.1 mm (only use when needed)
  • End Mill RF: 0.15 mm, 0.25 mm, 0.4 mm
  • End Mill: 0.8 mm, 1.0 mm, 2.0 mm
  • Contour Router: 1.0 mm, 2.0 mm

The Contour Router tools can create holes of any dimension. For example, 2.3 mm holes use the Contour Router 2.0 mm, and 1.6 mm holes use the Contour Router 1.0 mm.

These tools can only be used with PCBs. Do not cut plastics with them—this will destroy them, and they're expensive.

If a tool needs to be changed please contact a Fab Lab Administrator so we can help and keep track. Do not attempt to change it on your own. Used tools must be marked.

Details