[OT]Homebrew PCB fabrication

From: Brad Parker <brad_at_heeltoe.com>
Date: Thu Feb 24 11:27:35 2005

"David V. Corbin" wrote:
>Gerber (e.g. RS274X) file formats are well documented. You **could** create
>one with any binary file editor if you were so inclined....

If you're just making small 1 or 2 sided boards I'd try "Eagle". I
think the small board 2 layer version is free. It will automagically
generate gerber files which pretty much any board house will read.

You can check your gerbers at 4pcb.com's free check site.

there are also lots of gerber file viewers on the web (but beware - many
have bugs/flaws which can cause you pain if you are doing complex work,
blah blah blah. ymmv.)

it's pretty painless. I do double sided boards all the time and bang
them out in an hour or two using eagle and pcbexpress.com. The fed-ex
man shows up a few days later and i'm soldering... even small pin count
SMT works fine with the HASL finish (hot air solder layer - the "tin"
which is has been discussed here recently)

-brad
Received on Thu Feb 24 2005 - 11:27:35 GMT