Hi Dave, On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 00:12 -0400, d...@umich.edu wrote: > I am sorry if this is a redundant request/question. > > I am currently building a cnc machine on which I would like to mill pcb's. > > Others have worked out a tool chain using eagle: > http://pminmo.com/millingpcbs/milledpcb.htm > > Is there any interest in a Geda-based alternative? Could it be > gschem--pcb/dxf(export) or gschem--pcb--gerbv/dxf(export)? The dxf file > would be an outline of all the traces and pads. The traces and pads > would be 'islands' that the cnc machine would mill around. >
I have made a start for a dxf exporter HID at: http://github.com/bert/pcb-dxf-hid/tree/master but somethings have come in between. If you would like to take development further do not hesitate to clone and/or send patches, you are welcome :) If you are willing to open an account on github, you and I can even share pull requests very easy by means of the github "fork queue" (a web-based tool monitoring forked of repo's). > Here, is the tool chain I have tried to get working without success. > 1. From pcb I export gerber files. > 2. I load a gerber file in gerbv and export it as a pdf > 3. I load the pdf in inkscape and save as a dxf file. > > However, when I view the dxf file in qcad or any other cad or cam > program, the strokes and objects from inkscape are split into two > incomplete and offset images, and the pcb traces are lines with no > thickness. Inkscape is turning all strokes(pcb traces) into lines in the > dxf file. > In dxf one can use polylines which can have width (*and* thickness in Z-direction), one can even join all traces of a net into one polyline (with branches and arcs). > In inkscape, if I go through the very cumbersome process of individually > selecting each stroke(trace) with the 'Edit paths by nodes(F2)' tool, > and select 'Path>Stroke to Path' and then combine all the edited paths > and objects using 'Path>Union' I can get a dxf file that is an outline > of the traces and pads. However, inkscape often adds a little bulge to > the end of each stroke. So, it is not a perfect outline. This also takes > way too long on anything other than the most simple pcb artwork. So, I > am stumped. > > Any interest in adding the dxf export feature to pcb or gerbv? It seems > to me that cnc milling of pcb's is becoming viable as a homeshop > alternative to all of the other standard methods of fabricating pcb's. > Generating a cnc file (g-codes/m-codes) without dxf would be faster in any case and less error prone, why not code a cnc exporter ? Or does one need an intermediate format like dxf which describes the positive shapes, and not the inverted (copper to remove) shapes and traces. Maybe inverted Gerbers are a better starting point. > thanks, > Dave > > Kind regards, Bert Timmerman. _______________________________________________ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user