[sdiy] PCB/Schematic software

[David G Dixon]

>> ... This makes my boards much easier to drill, as you don't have to 
>> hunt down all the pads -- just follow the straight lines.  I also make 
>> my pads bigger and circular, which also makes drilling nice.

> It's the drilling that was the big show-stopper for making my 
> own boards (well, that, the issue of plated through holes, 
> not over-etching fine [0.012"] tracks, lack of solder mask...)
> 
> Do you use an X-Y table or something for the drilling? Before 
> I came upon my $5/sq inch, high-quality, board maker 
> http://dorkbotpdx.org/wiki/pcb_order where I just need to 
> e-mail of my Eagle .brd file, I was giving serious 
> consideration to building a little CNC table to take my 
> Dremel to to all the dirty work for me - that or a manual X-Y table.
> 
> Now I only make my own boards when the physical size would 
> make them too expensive a proposition for fabrication.

I've often dreamed of having some kind of jig, but basically, it's just "aim
and shoot".  I etch tiny holes in the centres of my pads, and these tend to
guide the drill bit to the centre, so your aim doesn't have to be that
great.  It only takes 3 or 4 seconds to line up and drill each hole, so the
drilling goes pretty fast.  Even a crazy complex board like the Korgasmatron
II only takes about 20 minutes to drill.  I just put on some tunes, and
three or four songs later I'm done.

It keeps me out of the house, too, so that's a plus.  ;)