Hi Aggie,
How big/complex is the board you want to mill?
Eagle allows you to design as many boards as you desire. The "hobby"
level free program size limit is about 3" x 4".
You would probably just lay out the board with eagle. There is a ULP
(user program language) that will generate Gcode in stead of Gerber
code. This you should be able to mill with.
I'm still "in progress", I've been trying to use DeskPCB to convert
Gerber output to Gcode. I'll look up the ULP and try it next.
You could probably also scan the printer PDF, import into your CAD, and
"trace" the outlines of the circuit traces. Then do an offset to
accommodate the cutter width.
You might experiment with first laying out the pads for your circuit,
connect them with lines to indicate the traces, and then draw an offset
around the pads and the traces. Might be OK for simple circuits.
Alan KM6VV
aggie_672000 wrote:
> Just finished my first toner transfer board which has made me think
> maybe a CNC routed board would be better. Am retired on a minimum
> budget so like free software:
>
> Saw a lot of people use Eagle, but afterlooking at the Eagle website
> wondered if the free version is only good for making one board or did
> I misread? With my learning curve it would take 10-20 attempts to get
> my first board.
>
> The PCB's I am interested in making at present are predrawn in a PDF
> file for toner transfer. Is it possible to modify these for milling?
>
> After I get a drawing in the right format for milling, what program is
> used to generate G code etc.? At present am using A9CAD to make
> drawing, ACE to convert to g code, then Mach3 to control my router.
>