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Hi to the list!

I usually hang out at the CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO list, but as I have been
working towards using a CNC to "etch" a board, I thought I'd post a few
comments here!

Not that I'm anti-chemical (I've etched a few boards before), but I'm
quite taken up with the CNC approach.

I'd like to mention Eagle, which has a PCB layout program, it can
generate the outline traces with an available script.



I'm even working on generating outlines myself from Gerber files.

Alan KM6VV



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Hi Alan -

We meet again ;-)

I will be interested to hear how you get on - strikes me that generating an
outline from Gerber is potentially non-trivial. Would love to make use of
any results you generate though!

Am also looking at the possibility of using DXF track layout output &
importing that into Dolphin, then treating the tracks as a series of
"islands" for an area clear. Might just work, depending on how smart
Dolphin proves to be, but doing it that way may prove rather (mill) time
consuming compared with the outline approach. Waiting for the CD to
arrive... <sound of drumming fingers...>

Regards,
Tony

Hi Tony!

Yes, surprise, surprise! To do the outlines from a Gerber file, I build
a table of nodes (typically the pads), and add connection data to each
entry. the connection data is the number of the pad to connect to, and
the trace width to use. Other data in the node is the location of the
node, size/type of pad, an the parent pad.

I then "transverse" the "nets" of the list, and output (for now) PLC
code (point, line, circle for Vector) for each arc or line segment
needed to draw a net. Each net must go completely around all pads and
traces that are connected together in a net.

Well, it's working, at least for SIMPLE layouts. No funny "stacks" of
multiple traces on top on one another. Just the simple stuff.

PLC's for now, which quickly allows me to "see" the completed nets,
later it's an easy step to generate gcode instead. It's just as if you
"traced" all around a net. It's been a challenging program to write!

I started off thinking I could generate the outlines of the pads and
traces in Vector CAD/CAM, but anything more then a couple of pads and
traces was either too much for it, or required too much manual selection
to make it work. I have wanted to do this kind of program since I got
my first IBM PC.

Sounds like you're doing a "flood fill" approach. That would remove ALL
the unwanted copper. It could work, however the work I've seen has been
outlines. Eagle can do the outlines, but as I said, I've always wanted
to do this program!

Dolphin sounds interesting, but I'd hate to spend the time (and money)
to learn it, since I'm already using Vector. The free 4-th axis does
sound interesting!

Alan KM6VV

Tony Jeffree wrote:

Hi Alan -

We meet again ;-)

I will be interested to hear how you get on - strikes me that generating

outline from Gerber is potentially non-trivial. Would love to make use

any results you generate though!

Am also looking at the possibility of using DXF track layout output &
importing that into Dolphin, then treating the tracks as a series of
"islands" for an area clear. Might just work, depending on how smart
Dolphin proves to be, but doing it that way may prove rather (mill) time
consuming compared with the outline approach. Waiting for the CD to
arrive... <sound of drumming fingers...>

Regards,
Tony

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Homebrew_PCBs-unsubscribe@...



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to

I'm familiar with "DXF" files...Autocad right? I've been using auto cad
for years. This is my first time using it for PCB layout. I've been trying
to get a menu set up within the program to add components a little quicker
than inserting blocks. Another problem I have is getting it from the DWG
file to something I can transfer to a board. I'm new to electronics, and
find PCB design very interesting. Any Ideas?

Bob Bozarth

----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan Marconett KM6VV" <KM6VV@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@...>
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 6:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Mechanical PCB etching

Hi Tony!

Yes, surprise, surprise! To do the outlines from a Gerber file, I build
a table of nodes (typically the pads), and add connection data to each
entry. the connection data is the number of the pad to connect to, and
the trace width to use. Other data in the node is the location of the
node, size/type of pad, an the parent pad.

I then "transverse" the "nets" of the list, and output (for now) PLC
code (point, line, circle for Vector) for each arc or line segment
needed to draw a net. Each net must go completely around all pads and
traces that are connected together in a net.

Well, it's working, at least for SIMPLE layouts. No funny "stacks" of
multiple traces on top on one another. Just the simple stuff.

PLC's for now, which quickly allows me to "see" the completed nets,
later it's an easy step to generate gcode instead. It's just as if you
"traced" all around a net. It's been a challenging program to write!

I started off thinking I could generate the outlines of the pads and
traces in Vector CAD/CAM, but anything more then a couple of pads and
traces was either too much for it, or required too much manual selection
to make it work. I have wanted to do this kind of program since I got
my first IBM PC.

Sounds like you're doing a "flood fill" approach. That would remove ALL
the unwanted copper. It could work, however the work I've seen has been
outlines. Eagle can do the outlines, but as I said, I've always wanted
to do this program!

Dolphin sounds interesting, but I'd hate to spend the time (and money)
to learn it, since I'm already using Vector. The free 4-th axis does
sound interesting!

Alan KM6VV

Tony Jeffree wrote:

Hi Alan -

We meet again ;-)

I will be interested to hear how you get on - strikes me that generating

an

outline from Gerber is potentially non-trivial. Would love to make use

of

any results you generate though!

Am also looking at the possibility of using DXF track layout output &
importing that into Dolphin, then treating the tracks as a series of
"islands" for an area clear. Might just work, depending on how smart
Dolphin proves to be, but doing it that way may prove rather (mill) time
consuming compared with the outline approach. Waiting for the CD to
arrive... <sound of drumming fingers...>

Regards,
Tony