you can also use the 'rolling paper' type plotters to plot directly onto
the board ,I used to do this on my old HP ColorPro
cut a piece of heavy paper (construction paper or Manila folder) to fit
the full width of the paper tray (a little over 8.5") and don't let the
plotter release it between the test plot and the board plot
I used Eagle to generate the HPGL code for the outline (dimension) layer
bottom traces and top silk (single sided boards)
then transfered the .plt files to a DOS boot floppy for an ancient
XT era laptop the plotter was hooked up to
use the mode command to configure the serial port
A:\>mode COM1:9600,N,8,1,P
and send the test file to the plotter with
A:\>type outline.plt > com1
this plots the board outline on the paper
use double stick tape to fix the board over the outline
and plot the traces with
A:\>type bottom.plt > com1
etch the board flip it over and plot the silk layer the same way
the plotter does not release the paper between plots so it
wont lose its position the way it would with the windoze drivers
you may also want to edit the .plt files so it only uses one pen
and set the speed (velocity) fairly slow say 4 cm/sec with
SP1;VS4:
this helps keep the pens from clogging and lays down a thicker
coat of ink
I used extra fine point Sharpies in a drilled out pen body
Brian
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Hi Steve and list-
You are right, on a flat-bed plotter you can print direct to PCB, and
that is obviously much better than the system I mentioned in my post.
But, if someone does not have a flat-bed plotter, but does have the
kind where the paper moves back and forth between rollers, then that
method would be of value.
I haven't looked at the links you have provided but will do so with
thanks.
Grant
