Hi.
I have plan to buy small smt machine.
I’m going to make metal mask with laser.
Can I make metal mask to autocad file by Kicad?
I have also small laser, so I can cut only acrylic.
Is it ok for me to make acrylic(1T) metal mast?
KiCad can not make Metal things.
KiCad only generates bits and bytes.
What you probably want from KiCad is to use the solder paste layers.
These are usually used to make the masks.
There are a bunch of video’s of making solder paste stencils from mylar sheets on Youtube.
MikesElecticStuff is always fun to watch:
Or, for a more general search:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mylar+solder+paste+stencil
From what I’ve heard these stencils do not last long. When you want >10 boards or so metal masks seem a better option, but you can start with mylar.
In the weird corner of youtube you can find people etching solder masks from soda cans:
3 Likes
paulvdh, nice, thanks fro sharing those.
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