We have a 1994 LPKF Protomat S91 PCB mill in the lab for making prototype PCBs. Here it was used to cut a circular part (not a PCB) which was first drawn in CorelDraw, then saved in HPGL format, and then opened in BoardMaster which is the program that controls the mill through a quirky serial protocol. I think the original LPKF design has a solenoid for the up/down z-movement of the tool. The solenoid would become unreliable during a long run, because it was getting very hot, so on our mill it has been replaced with a more reliable pneumatic cylinder. The spindle is a Proxxon hand-tool, and tool changes are manual.
