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Transcript

The Desktop PCB Revolution Is Here!

Why Laser Ablation Might Be the 3D Printing Moment for Hardware
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Are we finally close to fabbing real PCBs at home?

In this episode, Seve (tscircuit) and Matt (atopile) go deep into the state of DIY PCB fabrication: why it feels like the early days of 3D printing, what's still holding it back, and what could push it over the edge.

We talk lasers, vias, copper, tariffs, and some surprising hacks people use to prototype faster without sending things to China.

What You’ll Learn Today:

  • How fiber lasers are being used to blast copper off PCBs

  • Why vias are still the bottleneck for DIY PCB prototyping

  • What a $200K laser ablation machine actually does

  • How one engineer claims to make PCBs with no chemicals at all

  • Whether DIY sintered copper vias might actually work

  • How U.S. tariffs sparked a wave of fake “local” PCB fabs

  • Why 3D printing and PCB fab might follow the same path

  • What still needs to happen before in-house PCB manufacturing is truly usable

Whether you're building hardware, designing boards, or just wondering what’s next for fast prototyping, this is one of our most technical and fun episodes yet.

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