I use Eagle for my boards. I have written/modified a User Program (sort of an interpreted C language built into Eagle) that outputs HPGL plot files specifically for my use. I don't use a mill, I use an HP plotter with a scratching tip instead of a pen. I put paint on my copper boards, then run them through the plotter. The plotter 'scratches' away all of the paint where I want the etchant to etch. I have a program that I wrote (in Liberty Basic) that takes the HPGL output from Eagle, and the NC Drill file from Eagle, and puts filled in circles inside each drill hole. Then when I scratch the board on the plotter, each drill hole has a copper-free circle in the middle of it. None of the stuff I've done is ready for any type of wide-spread use yet. I'm still working out lots of bugs. But I'm writing this to you-all so that you know it can be done, and it isn't all that hard to do. My Liberty Basic program parses the HPGL file from Eagle (which contains many concentric 'rings' of scratch lines since each scratch line is only about 2-4 mil wide) so that areas can be 'filled-in' with scratch lines) and then parses the drill file and combines them, does rotates, scaling, and translation, and then writes out a new HPGL file that I can directly use on my plotter. *Brian
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HPGL output (was PCB design software)
2003-05-12 by Brian Schmalz
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