Help with first layout

[Jebus]

That's true. Probably wont have any kind of solder mask. Should I swap the transistor in Eagle for ones that have more space between legs?

[jkokura]

no, I wouldn't. I think you're fine the way it is, however, if you feel you need to adjust it, you could move C4 down a little bit, then the pour would go around the left pad of C4, and around the transistor.

Jacob

[m-Kresol]

there's no reason why you would need the gnd pour in that area anyways. everyting that is supposed to be grounded is and that little piece won't make much of a difference concerning noise anyways.

you could shift the trace under the vol pot a bit further down away from the pads. Soldering in the pots is trickier with one sided layouts, especially if you use board mounts and thus it's easier to have a solder bridge. that's why I asked about the solder mask.  btw. remember that madbeans pots are designed for boardmount, ie. on the BACK. if you have them on the component side and want to use board mounts too, you need to turn them

[jkokura]

there's no reason why you would need the gnd pour in that area anyways. everyting that is supposed to be grounded is and that little piece won't make much of a difference concerning noise anyways.

Except that you need to recognize that he's doing this with a machine that drills out the PCB, and making it easier/quicker is not a bad goal.

Jacob

[wgc]

If you're going to cnc, try to optimize the cuts and trace widths to make the most of your cutter diameter. In general make sure that your diameter is a little thinner than your cuts, but not too much. Otherwise, it will take more passes to cut (dia too small), or worse (dia too big), you take away material off your traces.

Alright! I'll need to check to CNC mill next Monday to see what size are the cutters. I've only ran a single test layout with it so far.
[/quote]

Just FYI

There's free gcode simulators online that should help you see if you have a problem.

Also, best to use your own cutters vs community stuff. They're cheap on amazon.

[Jebus]

I moved parts around at left down corner and now I think it's looking better:

btw. remember that madbeans pots are designed for boardmount, ie. on the BACK. if you have them on the component side and want to use board mounts too, you need to turn them

I was thinking I would do them boardmounted at the solder side (like any commercial PCB, the soldering would just be bit different). So are those currently the wrong way around? 

[m-Kresol]

if you put the pot on the solder side then it's ok as is. Looking really good btw. The learning curve is high and it is really addicting too. I like to spend long train rides doing pcb layouts

[Jebus]

Alright, thanks!

I'm still wondering if I should move the trace that goes between the
legs of sustain pot. It could be easily routed under C2 and around the whole pot. What do you guys think?

[jkokura]

Often, you'll be asking that question forever. There is, in many ways, no end to tweaks and adjustments. At the end of the day, you just have to call it down when it meets your design criteria and passes the electrical and design checks in eagle.

Jacob

[gtr2]

The 90 degrees are fine except for high voltage traces, but I rarely do them except on a T intersection (If I don't add an angle).

Don't forget to do a design rule check.  Find a set of rules you are comfortable with and stick with it.  Often on the contract work I do, I find many errors that are simply found running a check, this applies to the schematic and PCB.  ALWAYS run a check, and if you don't understand the error, google is your friend.

Also make yourself a checklist to follow during your design and at the end.  This will eliminate things like the pots being on the wrong side.

Sometimes I have two layouts going for the same circuit after the constraints are met.  Often there is a better arrangement than your initial parts placement, so save an alternate file in case it isn't.  My last design I just wrapped up was extremely complex and running two layouts saved a lot of time, instead of having to keep backtracking my work, I could move forward on both and then I finished up the one that was the more efficient layout.  This is especially helpful when you're tight on space.

Save versions while you are working so you can revert back and also have a backup.  I usually save by name and date.

Granted these are more useful for complex designs and things beyond the DIY realm but good habits to get into.

Josh

[Jebus]

Okay, I tweaked it bit more. Probably good enough now.



Now I need to start wondering how the CAM Processor works and what all the options do. I asked the guy who has used the CNC machine before about the files, but he just said "yeah, you need Gerber files". 

[wgc]

You need a way to go from gerber to gcode. There may be a way to convert to gcode using a bw jpg too, but probably less desireable for efficient milling/ drilling.

There's some free programs for either approach but I haven't tried them.

This looks promising: http://flatcam.org

You'll need to know what controller the cnc has, and have the appropriate profile setup in your cam to make sure you get gcode that the machine can run.

[Jebus]

Hey!

Got it! They had the CAM job ready for Eagle, so all I had to do was export the files and insert them to the controller program which turned them to gcode. Took 24 minutes to make the board and at least I think it turned out pretty darn good!



Sorry about the fingerprints.. 

[m-Kresol]

that is super cool! and so much easier and less messy than home etching and DRILLING

[wgc]

Looks great, awesome you could just drop the files and go.