Hi. I found some PCB prototyping laser engraver arround 300eur in aliexpress etc.
However someone told me that they need "programming". What does that mean?
Can't i just load gerber files etc and build my pcb automatic? They say they are automatic. What am I missing here?
You cannot "etch" PCBs with laser. You can mill them, if you have a decent toolchain.
If you are talking about 1310 et al.: You need to update GRBL to 1.1, add limit switches (to make it a bit less of a toy), and decent toolchain from PCB to gcode.
I do not like GRBL .. well, GRBL is OK, but the controlling software is crap. OpenCNCPilot is the best you can to get PCBs done. It's nowhere near LinuxCNC - but if you come from Windows, you will be quite satisfied.
zwieblum:
You cannot "etch" PCBs with laser. You can mill them, if you have a decent toolchain.
If you are talking about 1310 et al.: You need to update GRBL to 1.1, add limit switches (to make it a bit less of a toy), and decent toolchain from PCB to gcode.
I do not like GRBL .. well, GRBL is OK, but the controlling software is crap. OpenCNCPilot is the best you can to get PCBs done. It's nowhere near LinuxCNC - but if you come from Windows, you will be quite satisfied.
do you have anything to suggest? i would like something "easy" as im not experienced. i just want to load the files and print the pcb..if possible..
CNC and EASY don't go well. If anybody promises you "easy", it'll cost "much". If it's "cheap", you'll need "time". Choose your way.
What hardware do you have, what's your experience with metal tools, what's in your scrap parts box? Do you want to dive in deep? Do you have a PC? If yes, get LinuxCNC. Test if your hardware is realtime capable. If yes, check if you have a paralleport on your PC. If not, get one (just some bucks) - and get some decent stepper drivers and breakout board. Or the famous TB6560 boards with 3 or 4 drivers. Prepare to learn quite a lot.
Or buy estlcam. Probably the best you can get for GRBL compatible hardware. You may or may not run into limts (I did, and it didn't even take me a week).
zwieblum:
CNC and EASY don't go well. If anybody promises you "easy", it'll cost "much". If it's "cheap", you'll need "time". Choose your way.What hardware do you have, what's your experience with metal tools, what's in your scrap parts box? Do you want to dive in deep? Do you have a PC? If yes, get LinuxCNC. Test if your hardware is realtime capable. If yes, check if you have a paralleport on your PC. If not, get one (just some bucks) - and get some decent stepper drivers and breakout board. Or the famous TB6560 boards with 3 or 4 drivers. Prepare to learn quite a lot.
Or buy estlcam. Probably the best you can get for GRBL compatible hardware. You may or may not run into limts (I did, and it didn't even take me a week).
Only things i understood are PC, parallelport. thats it haha. thanks tho.
So i get that linux distro and probably burn it on a usb stick and then buy a hardware compatible with linuxCNC? can i just "load" gerber files on that distro and just do the job quickly? i guess its not that easy
No, it's not easy. That's why I quit making boards decades ago. Now it's ridiculously cheap (and fast, and with good quality) to have them made in China.
Looking back from the mountain top ... not that hard, was it? Why did it take me years to get there?
My workflow for PCB: KICAD -> plot gerber+drill files -> pcb2gcode+pcb2gcodeGui -> linuxcnc (with probe) to mill it & drill it. Takes ~ 1 hour for the whole process.
Some use flatcam. Yes, it works - kind of. It just sometimes merges vias. Did not know that mantaining via width is more important than isolation of vias. Anyway, some people love it.
Yes, you can get it cheaper with way better quality in china. I just don't like to wait days or weeks for one PCB. If you go to china, best make assembly there, too.
Either way, you'll spend a lot of time either learning CNC or ordering PCBs 
300 Euros that buys heaps of boards from SEEED. That's before taking the additional materials and labour into account, and I doubt home built PCB will easily be double sided, with plated through holes and vias, solder mask etc in place, and for a little extra a nice solder stencil to make assembly quick and easy.
I can wait 5-7 days to get my PCBs delivered. To me it's simply not worth the time/effort of trying to make your own.