When it comes to making PCBs, etching, or milling? Which is better, I know the processes for both, but which yelds the better product?

At the college I go to we have a $15K circuit board mill and its very nice and can do extremely small traces very accurately and repetitively.It can take anywhere between 10min and several hours to finish a board depending on complexity. I'm building my own mill, I know that it won't have anywhere near the precision but if I can do some decently complex boards I'll be happy. It all depends on the precision you build the mill to.

A mill is more expensive initial investment but if you build a big enough one then it can be used for much more then just pcb's As for etching, I've only used the process once and have a deep distrust for any chemical that can eat through metal. Aside from that, I think that etching can be done much faster and in large groups at once if you have enough chemicals and a large enough tank. But you have to be careful to avoid the acid eating the copper under resist.

If it eats away all of the bare copper and is left in to long it will begin to eat the exposed sides of the traces. Etching can also be inaccurate with one side of the board finishing before the other. And you have to avoid very thin traces which might not survive the process.

There are ways to help this including bubbling air in the tank to agitate the acid and avoid weak spots. I would say that the Mill is better but they are expensive and require some knowledge to keep them running accurately. Etching would probably be better for beginning hobbyist or people on a budget.

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