On Mon, Jan 18, 2016 at 5:53 PM, Gene Heskett (gheskett AT shentel DOT net) [via geda-user AT delorie DOT com] <geda-user AT delorie DOT com>= wrote:

Greetings;

Since I have a milling machine capable of doing PCB's, albeit slow as molasses since the spindle's tongue is hanging out and dripping on the<= br> floor at 2650 rpm's.=C2=A0 But it works.

Which is ATM more than I can say for the gcode exporter.

It leaves out thru holes, or makes them the wrong size, as in too big,
destroying the pad itself.=C2=A0 This missing holes also affects the bottom=
etching file, skipping the peck with the engraving tool in the center of the pad, and despite being told to peck that about 5 thou deeper, it
doesn't even make it thru the copper.

But I am fairly decent, not a guru, but capable of fixing a line of code here and there, so I was able to add the peck the hold in the pad
without a lot of hacking around. So that did cut what was a usable
bottom(solder) side of the board.=C2=A0 Then, attacking the drillmill file,= I
found the bit of code that needed help by mouse clicking on the line in
the LCNC backplot to locate it in the code, first adding the missing
holes with a straight drill of 0.03125 diameter.=C2=A0 But some holes were<= br> still either too big or tool small. Using the point and click, I found
it in the code, and except for the original placement move, I ripped out the octagonal carving code and did a straight drill.=C2=A0 Checking the
sizes, I added a global var to the gcode file which served as the
additional radius the hole needed to be the right size. Setting it for 3 to 6 thousandths, and calling a circle cutter subroutine, I was able to
fine tune the hole sizes.

So then I coded up a step & repeat, and made the circuit 4 up. I
populated the first one last night but ran out of giddyup, so it got
tested today, works great.

So today, I had pcb make some Gerber's that I could look at with gerbv.=
No missing holes, but since it was working with the .pcb file, the holes were still mostly too small.

So, my=C2=A0 wish list is:

1. Make a library pad patterns adjustable in the editor, both for
interlead spacing, and the pad OD and hole size, using a unit of measure we are familiar with.=C2=A0 Maybe it can be done to the copy in memory, but=
its not obvious from the current screen the device editor menu shows a
new bee.

2. Fix the gcode export menu so it saves the last set of "makeit"=
settings even if I don't load pcb again for a month, and reloads them when next called.=C2=A0 Continuity would be very handy, almost on a par wit= h
sliced bread and bottled beer.

I think the way this would work is the normal settings would go in ~/.pc= b/preferences, and then individual boards could override them with their ow= n settings.=C2=A0 I'm looking at how all this works a little bit at the= moment with an eye to cleaning up load/save somewhat.

=C2=A0

3. Fix the missing drill holes in the gcode exporter.=C2=A0 Not everyone is= as
familiar with LinuxCNC and gcode as I am, and I am by no means a guru.
For probably 75% of the people who might use that code to directly
generate the gcode files, and who often depend on a CAM program to
generate the code they run, this is for those people, an absolute show
stopper.

=C2=A0

Sounds like a great thi= ng to fix for sure.=C2=A0 Unfortunately I know nothing about the gcode or g= erber exporters myself.=C2=A0 I would guess that the gcode one doesn't = get a lot of exercise hence bugs like these.

=C2=A0

4. I have no facilities to lay down a solder mask, and being able to do
that would be a huge help, but I haven't the foggiest where to start. Hints about that gleefully read and noted to see if its practical when I

I used to use a mask pen and o= nly bothered with the fine pitch parts.=C2=A0 It's fussy but you can do= it for etch/mill boards using the edges of the copper to guide the pen.=C2= =A0 I'm not sure how necessary it was though.

=C2=A0

haven't had a working chemical darkroom set up since about 1977 when I<= br> moved to a new office where the door said Chief Engineer, at a tv
station that is no more. That was also the title on the door for the
last 18 years of my working carrear which ended 13.5 years ago. I am now 81 and counting.

Welcome!

=C2=A0

Any help that can be put into PCB in these areas will be appreciated, a
lot.

It sounds to me like yo= u've already made some real fixes.=C2=A0 You might want to get set up w= ith git as that's probably the easiest way to get them approved and int= egrated.=C2=A0 Another option is to open pcb launchpad bugs with your patch= es and email the list about them, and someone else can look at them and cre= ate a corresponding branch.

=C2=A0

Britton

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