gEDA-user: Fitting a hobbyist design into someone else's form factor

[msokolov@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Michael Sokolov)]

Hello fellow gEDA/PCB users,

I would like to fit my design into the form factor from an existing
gadget so that I don't have to invent my own mechanical design and can
utilise a ready-made enclosure.  This means that I need to carefully
measure out the existing board in order to reproduce its mechanical form
factor.  Here is my question to the list: what level of measurement
precision is required to make a generally acceptable fit of the form
factor?  Will a metric ruler with mm ticks be sufficient, or would I
need something finer?  I don't know if the form factor I'm trying to
copy was originally designed as metric or inch-based.

The mechanical aspects that I need to measure and reproduce in my design
are:

* Board dimensions and shape.  It is shaped like this (read in a fixed
  width font):

  +----------------------------------------------------------+
  | RJ45                      RJ45        AC mains           |
  |                                       connector          |
  |                                                          |
  |                                                          |
  |                                   +----------------------+
  |                                   |
  |                                   |
  |                                   |
  |                                   |
  |                                   |
  |                                   |
  |                                   |
  |                                   |
  |                                   |
  |                                   |
  | LEDs                              |
  +-----------------------------------+

  I guess such a board is fabbed as rectangular, then a corner is cut
  away, right?

* Location and drill diameter of mounting holes.

* Location of some connectors along the back side.  The existing board
  has two RJ45-style jacks and a "kettle plug" AC mains connector, and
  mine will have identical connectors in the same locations.  The
  existing board also has a block of 4 RJ45s stuck together (Ethernet
  hub), but mine will have a DB25 in its place.  The DB25 is smaller
  than the 4 RJ45s, so I'll have a little bit of wiggle room for it.

* My board will have some surface mount LEDs on it, and I want to put
  them exactly where the existing board has its LEDs so that they are
  visible when my board is put into the existing enclosure.

I would appreciate any advice on how much precision is required to
achieve what I've just described.

TIA,
MS


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