What is it?

This is a scribe tool specifically designed for 3d printers for making printed circuit boards. It mounts directly to the back of your 3d printer's extruder (provided it isn't a Bowden extruder printer and has a NEMA17 motor). The scribe itself is held in place with soft brass bearings and a 3d printed assembly. There is zero-backlash when properly assembled (it's quite easy), for most SMD and thru-hole circuits this setup works quite well.

With a hardened steel scribe of the appropriate weight, it's possible to clear the solder mask as well as the ink which is used for etching.

Why did you make it?

It's very difficult to work with fine-pitch surface-mount components on DIY circuits. This allows you make cheap, huge, and robust PCBs. I'm still refining this method for multi-layer boards with solder mask, but it should be possible to make 2+ layer boards the size of your print area for extremely cheap and with great reliability and speed. Why pay $60+ to oshpark when you can do it better and faster?

What makes it special?

It's extremely cheap and anyone with a NEMA17 extruder (quite common) can use it with a little bit of acid in a plastic bag to make custom PCBs up to the size (or larger!) of their 3d printer.