The Software needed. Eagle CAD - download the free version of Eagle CAD from. pcb-gcode - download the pcb-gcode Eagle CAD. DownloadStep 1: Setup the software1. Setup Eagle following the instructions from autodesk.2. Dowload PCB-GCode (Utility for EAGLE) and decompress it into a new folderStep 2: Setting up PCB-GCODE in EAGLEAll files after decompressing pcb-gcode-3.6.2.4 are the followingSearch your computer, find the folder where EAGLE is installed and open it. In there there is a folder named ULP.
I copy everything that is in the folder pcb-gcode-3.6.2.4 and paste it in ULP folder.When you click ULP button on EAGLE toolbox it opens the ULP folder and asks which file to open. Scroll down and open pcb-gcode setup and make all settings needed.First TAB is the Generation options:Generation Options settingsThese are basic settings for what types of Tool Paths you want to create and how detailed they should be.The Top Side and Bottom Side setting will depend on whether you will be making a single or double sided PCB.Show preview is always good to have checked so you can see that everything turned out how you expected it to.
As my vision is not what it used to be I like to keep the Width and Height at 1024 x 768.Generate milling is used for cutting the PCB outline. I DO NOT USE IT AT THE MOMENTGenerate text is used to engrave text onto your PCB. Only text that uses the Vector font and is on EAGLE Layer 46 Milling will be included in the G-Code.
I DO NOT USE IT AT THE MOMENTSpot drill holes will make small marks wherever a hole will be drilled after the trace isolation cuts are made. This helps the drill bits get nice and centered when drilling the holes.Prefer climb sets the overall direction that the CNC Mill should move in for milling. I do prefer to have my mill do climbing cuts and that is why I have this option checked.Isolation lets you control how the software will outline each of your traces. These settings depend heavily on the tip diameter of the end mill or engraving bit that will be used to outline your traces.Single pass only does one outline around your traces.Minimum lets you set the smallest amount of space that your end mill or engraving bit can cut. 0 inches to ensure that every trace is outlined at least once to isolate it.Maximum sets the maximum spacing that you want cut around each trace.
This will determine how many times the CNC mill will outline each trace.Step size tells the software how much space your want between isolation passes. If you are using an end mill, this should be about 40% of the tip diameter of your bit. Engraving bits can use a step size equal to the flat diameter of the bit because it is tapered and that makes the cuts wider as it goes deeper into the carrier board.Next is TAB is Machine:Machine settings control how fast the CNC Mill will cut, details about your cutting tools, and the units of measurement you wish to use.Z Axis lets you set some standardized milling depths.Z High sets the safe height for the mill to move around without running into anything like your clamps. 0.5 inches is a safe bet for this.Z Up is the safe height for movements from one cut to the next. I set this to 0.1 inches.Z Down sets the cutting depth for the trace isolation. This should be set to go just below the copper layer.
I use -0.007 inches.Drill Depth should be set to about 0.005 inches below the thickness of your carrier board. So if your carrier board is 0.062 inches, you would set this option to -0.067 inches.Drill Dwell tells the machine how long it should wait before pulling the drill bit back out of a newly drilled hole. About 1 second is good to get a cleanly drilled hole.The Tool Change options don’t work so well, but I put 0 in for Position X and Y and 1 inch for Position Z.Spin up time is used to set the time it takes for the spindle to get to full speed once it is turned on. If your CNC Mill does not automatically turn your spindle or router on and off, don’t worry about this setting.Units tells the software what unit of measurement you want to use for everything.Feed Rates lets you set the optimal speed that your CNC Mill will move while cutting and drilling. This is very important to prevent your bits from breaking and getting clean cuts.Etch settings are used for the trace isolation outlinesDrill sets the drilling speed.Mill settings are used for cutting out the PCB when finished. I DO NOT USE IT AT THE MOMENT.Text I DO NOT USE IT AT THE MOMENT.Stencil I DO NOT USE IT AT THE MOMENT.Click on the?
Buttons if you really want to know what the Misc options are, but they are not important for what we are doing.Next Tab is G-code Style: I choose Mach3Next Tab is Gcode options: select use simple drill code!The GCode Options windowNC File Comments PCB-GCode puts some rather long notes into the G-Code that it generates. This might result in errors when you send the G-Code file to CNC Mill. Un-checking all of the NC File Comments options will fix this issue.Under Other Options, I only check the Do tool change with zero step and Use simple drill code options. Use Eagle CAD DRC to Enforce Design Limitations1. In Eagle CAD, select 'Tools-DRC-Clearance'2. Set all of the 'Different Signals' clearances to a value larger than your engraving tool (12mil seems to work for a 30deg V-Bit)3.
If you already have a board designed, select 'Check' to see what parts of your board may be too close together to isolateStep 4: Make the G-Code for the BoardUse pcb-gcode to generate G-Code from Eagle CAD1. Open your board design in Eagle CAD2. From the Eagle CAD click ULP button select pcb-gcode setup.ulp and run3. The pcb-gcode dialog will pop up.4. On the 'Generation Options' tab, select 'Generate bottom outlines', 'Generate bottom drills' 'Show preview', Spot drill holes, Prefer climb5.
On the 'Machine' tab, set 'Spindle Up Time' to 3 and set the feed rates to 300mm/min6. Set 'Z High' to 12mm, 'Z Up' to 3mm, 'Z Down' to -0.08mm7. Use calipers to determine the thickness of your board and enter that value plus 0.1mm or so for 'Drill Depth'8. On the 'GCode Style' tab, select 'Mach3 - EMC for Windows'9. On the 'GCode Options' tab, select all of the 'NC File Comments' options as well as 'Do tool change with zero step'10.
Click 'Accept and make my board'11. An image view window will pop up and display what will be etched.
Pcb-gcode will join signals that are too close so look at the image carefully to make sure that all signals are properly isolated.Step 5: Mill!Load the GcodeClick 'Cycle Start' on the Mach3 Screen to begin engravingUse the spindle speed control to adjust the spindle speed to something appropriate. If the speed is too low you may see ragged chips of copper. If the speed is too high you may see copper being finely polished instead of cut.Step 6: Drill!1. When milling has finished, raise the spindle.2. Click 'Go To Zero' on the Mach3 Program Run tab3. Use the page up key to raise the spindle again4. Remove the engraving bit from the spindle5.
Chuck an appropriately small carbide tipped drill bit6. Use 'File-Load GCode' within Mach3 to load your drilling G-Code (named something.bot.drill.tap)7.
Use the page down key to lower the spindle until it is just barely touching the work piece8. Click 'Zero Z' on Mach39. Click 'Cycle Start' on Mach3 to begin drillingThere is my first effort using the above steps.MillingDrillingFinal pcbNot bad for the first pcb on the mill!!Good Luck!Petros. Thanks for an excellent write up - I've used Eagle CAD for some time and never explored the various ULPs to discover the g-code one. Great for a really fast turnaround on a prototype!In addition to do-it-yourself milling of PCBs there are a couple of fab shops that offer low-cost etched boards from Eagle files that may be worth exploring, especially for boards with a lot of through-holes or fine geometry that would be challenging to make on a mill.OshPark.com (USA) will give you 3 boards from an Eagle file for $5 per square inch. I've used them often and been very satisfied with the results.There is also Olimex.com (Bulgaria) whom I have used once or twice before discovering OshPark and although I cannot remember what they charge it's in the same ballpark.I have no connection with either other than as a satisfied customer.Stu. Thanks for an excellent write up - I've used Eagle CAD for some time and never explored the various ULPs to discover the g-code one.
Great for a really fast turnaround on a prototype!In addition to do-it-yourself milling of PCBs there are a couple of fab shops that offer low-cost etched boards from Eagle files that may be worth exploring, especially for boards with a lot of through-holes or fine geometry that would be challenging to make on a mill.OshPark.com (USA) will give you 3 boards from an Eagle file for $5 per square inch. I've used them often and been very satisfied with the results.There is also Olimex.com (Bulgaria) whom I have used once or twice before discovering OshPark and although I cannot remember what they charge it's in the same ballpark.I have no connection with either other than as a satisfied customer.Stu. The idea is that the drillbit must go through the thickness of the material. That's the reason you must use some sacrificial material (wood?) under the copper board. If you secure it straight on the mill table you will end up with a nice drilled pattern on the table or a broken drill bit at the first hole.Moreover as the surface must be 100% flat you start the procedure by milling flat the sacrificial surface and then you secure the copper board on it.In my case you can see that I left a higher edge at y+ to secure the copper boardAs for high frequency signals, I never thought of that you see the circuit I designed is a timer that will energize a relay once every 24 hours. Nothing fancy, it just uses the pulses from an old crystal clock to count the time.When I finish the project I will post it here.Petros.
It might be helpful to know the thickness of the copper on a circuit board.The industry specifies this in 'ounces of copper' like 1 ounce or 1/2 ounce. That's measured over a one square foot panel. 1 ounce copper is.0014 thick and half ounce is half that or.0007'. Commercial boards are often thicker because of being solder coated, or during the time that holes through the board are plated, they get more plating, and power handling boards can start out as 2 ounce copper,.0028'. Both 1 and 1/2 are pretty common, with most modern boards being 1/2 ounce with very fine traces and gaps between them - things like.005' wide traces spaced.005' apart, or thinner.So a board that's.062 thick, double sided with 1 ounce copper is.0648 thick. Setting the drill to go.067 is just barely going through the board.
The included angle of the tip of the bit might not go all the way through.Hope that's useful. I was just passing through and since I'm a retired electrical engineer/radio designer, this stuff was my world once or twice a year for decades.
In this tutorial we will be going through how to mill out a PCB with your Sienci Mill One. Let’s get started!STEP 1: Create PCB DesignTo create our PCB design, we will be using EAGLE. EAGLE is a PCB design software that allows you to create schematics and transform them into board designs.
You can get the free version here:.Step 1.1: Create New ProjectStart off by making a new project. To make a new project, open up EAGLE’s Control Panel and go to File → New → Project.Step 1.2: Create New SchematicOnce you have made your project you will want to create a schematic within it. To create a schematic, find your project in the “Projects” folder located on the left-hand navigation sidebar on the Control Panel, right-click on your project, go to “New” and select “Schematic”.Now that you have a schematic file open, design the schematic of the circuit you wish to mill out. Here is a good tutorial to get you started on how to use EAGLE for schematic design:.Step 1.3: Create BoardWhen you are satisfied with your schematic, create a board for it by opening up the schematic and going to File → Switch to board.This action should open up a board file that is linked to your schematic file and should look something like this:At this point you can go ahead and lay out your parts on your board. This is a very useful tutorial on EAGLE Board Layouts:.Things to note when creating a board layout in EAGLE:. The EAGLE route thickness default is too thin to mill out.
For a PCB with 1oz copper thickness aim to get a route thickness of around 32mil. The mill can handle thinner traces but it is nice to keep them thicker to reduce the chances of traces breaking. To change your route thickness go to Edit → Change → Width and then select the width you would like and all the routes you would like to change.
Try to make your pads as big as possible as that will make soldering components to your board easier. You can change pad size by going to Tools → DRC → Annular Ring. Make sure that there is at least 0.7mm. of space between all wires and pads.
You can check this by going to Tools → DRC → Clearance, set the desired clearance, and press “Check”. Once again, the mill can tolerate less than 0.7mm of clearance but it is better to avoid having traces touch each other. If you are a beginner, it is recommended to keep your board one-sided (avoid making routes on both the top and bottom layers) as having traces on both sides of the board makes the milling process more complicated.These values are also dependent on the thickness and angle of the engraving bit. These particular numbers are based upon a 0.1, 30° engraving bit. If you have an engraving bit that is wider or has a larger angle, increase these values.Once you are satisfied with your board move onto the next step!STEP 2: Get Gerber (.gbr) FilesTo generate G-code to mill out the PCB you need to get the Gerber files from EAGLE. To get the Gerber files, open your board file and navigate to File → CAM Processor.This will open up a window where you can download the output files you need.We are interested in the following files:. Top Copper (under Gerber) – Contains the data for the traces on the top of the PCB.
Excellon (under Drill) – Contains the data for the holes that will be drilled out of the PCB.If you are creating a PCB with traces on the bottom of the board as well (i.e. A double-sided PCB) you will also need:. Bottom Copper (under Gerber) – Contains the data for the traces on the bottom of the PCBStep 2.1: Get Excellon (.xln) FileThe first file we are going to download is the Excellon file.
Pcb Gcode Github
None of the settings need to be changed but you can reference the image below to make sure your settings match mine.When you are ready click “Export File”. Do NOT click “Process Job” as that will download all the output files.Step 2.2: Get Top Copper (.gbr) FileNow we are going to export the Top Copper Gerber file for the top traces. Once again none of these settings need to be modified, but you may choose to check the “Board Shape” option, as I have, to include the board outline. Click “Export File” when you are ready.Step 2.3: Get Bottom Copper (.gbr) FileThis step is only necessary if you have traces on both sides of your PCB. If you only have routes on the top layer in EAGLE you can disregard this step.Unlike for the other two files, the “Bottom Copper” settings need to be modified.
Since you will be flipping your board to engrave the traces on the other side of the PCB you will need to mirror the “Bottom Copper” design and adjust the offset to accommodate the mirror. These changes can be made under the “Advanced” settings section at the bottom of the window. Since I will be flipping my board from right-to-left I have chosen a mirror that mirrors the output Gerber horizontally and set “Offset X” to be the width of my board.
If you choose to flip your board from top-to-bottom you will need to select the mirror that mirrors the output Gerber vertically and set “Offset Y” instead. Click “Export File” when you are done.STEP 3: Generate G-codeTo generate the G-code we will be using Carbide Copper:. Let’s go through each step taken within Carbide Copper together.Step 3.1: Copper MaterialMaterial Size: Enter the width and height of your materialThickness: Enter thickness of your PCB boardX/Y origin position: Select where you would like to zero the millFlat surface: N/AStep 3.2: Bottom Layer Signal TracesClick “Choose File” and select the “coppertop.gbr” file.Count: This is the number of outlines that will be made around a trace.