Re: gEDA-user: Board fabrication

[Wojciech Kazubski <wk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> > What if we made a via shape for ease of non-automated drilling, (for
> > prototyping)?  I think a concentric circle of copper to aim the
> > drill bit in and keep it from walking away from the center of the
> > larger via or mounting hole would be helpful.
>
> Have you tried the "drill helper" option?
>
If I remember well, in PCB gerber output had vias and pads filled, while PS 
output had full size holes "printed" in white inside vias and pads, just to 
see how the finished board will look like.

Some people however have problem with gerber interpreters or make masks at 
printing shops that have no gerber interpreters, so having the option to 
produce postscript without holes would be good for them.

For manual drilling (and homebrew laser print transfer technology) etched 
holes in pads may work as helpers for drilling. In such case it is best to 
have all drills reduced to some 10-20mils, just enough to put the drill bit 
in.

Current "dril helper" option is not usefull since a black dot in the center 
creates a bump which will drive a drill bit off the pad/via center. Better 
option woud be a control over the drill size on printout. Small white circle 
will create a pit which is good guide for drilling.

Implementing this should be relatively easy, simply ignore the real drill size 
read from internal data and replace it with 0 or a specified value (15mils?) 
when converting the board into ps. 

Wojciech Kazubski


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