--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Weiss" <BWeiss@p...> wrote:
>
> I appreciate your response. I did notice that the default size of
> vias in Eagle is kind of small and leaves no room for error. I
> bumped them up to 15mil pads. Most of my lines are 10 mil and space
> between is 8 mil. The single sided boards that I've done came out
> 99% good, except a minor line being broken but fixable. When you do
> a dbl sided board do you use defaults in the routing parameters or
> do you change them and favor 1 side to give less traces on the top?
> What is the smallest drill bit you use? Do you "tin" the board when
> finished etching?
>
> Thanks!
>
Using the Eagle autorouter guarantees a more complex board. I route
by hand and favor the bottom for TH and the top for SMD. I'll put
SMDs on the bottom of mostly TH boards. Basically, I try to route a
single sided board and then use the other side for a ground plane or
the last few traces that dont fit. I do hate to drill so "Phil's
Design Rules" minimize hole count.
Smallest drill I use is a function of what I have. I got a good deal
on a lot of #69 bits so its my smallest (0.032, iirc) but I would go
smaller for the vias if I had the bits.
I used to use tinit but dont bother any more. It was just one more
step in the process for marginal benefit, IMO. If you solder right
away and use liquid flux (particularly for SMD ICs) there will be no
problem.