Clean first
Use fresh abrasive and isopropyl alcohol, then avoid touching the copper. Oxide, oil, and loose fibers can confuse probing and make the calibration evidence harder to read.
Tips and tricks
Small habits make cleaner boards.
These notes are arranged in the order they matter during a board. They will become more specific as beta users validate different machines, materials, and recipes.
Fasten flat, not fancy
The board must not move, lift, or rock. You do not need a complicated jig for ordinary boards, but you do need clean support points and clear room for the probe and tool.
Check the probe by touch
Before motion, touch the tool and copper probe leads together and confirm the app sees contact. A probe that is noisy, stuck, or inverted ruins every later assumption.
Tune before risking the board
Calibration coupons are the fastest path to reliability. The goal is the least aggressive setting that creates clean electrical isolation with the selected tool.
Leave margin around the design
Place the selected design corner on usable copper with room for the outline, stock margin, probing moves, and any edge-release clearance.
Use tool-friendly geometry
When the design allows, curved traces and teardrop pads give the cutting tool smoother transitions and can make the board more consistent.
Trust height maps only when the setup is unchanged
Surface Map data belongs to the mounted board. If the board, tool, or coordinate frame moves, reacquire the evidence instead of reusing stale data.
Watch the first cuts
Use a sharp tool sized for the board's minimum isolation spacing. Stop early if the cut is too light, ragged, wider than expected, or visibly digging into the substrate.
Clean, inspect, then recut
Loose copper can make a good trace look failed. Brush or wipe first, inspect under magnification, then let continuity evidence decide where recuts are useful.
Re-probe after tool changes
Drilling and edge release use different tools and different safety assumptions. Keep XY stable, then deliberately re-establish Z on clear copper.
Control dust on spindle-on steps
Stationary scriber work is clean, but rotating copper removal, drilling, and edge cutting are real CNC operations. Use appropriate dust collection, support, eye protection, and material care.