Looking for an experienced PCBCart'er.
Brian Carpenter
Posts: 728
I have developed a product that i want to produce with boards from PCBCart.· I initially did the prototyping with the ExpressPCB software.· I have purchased all the Gerber files from them for this project.· I layed it out with them as 2peices by 7 peices so a total of 14 boards on a panel.· So i want to send this to PCBcart and also have them score between each of the 14. is this possible and how do i express that to them?· See the attached PDF.
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It's Only A Stupid Question If You Have Not Googled It First!!
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It's Only A Stupid Question If You Have Not Googled It First!!
Comments
I just asked our drafting guys at work. They said that they send the gerbers plus a DXF file that shows the score lines with dimensions. Now I'm sure that our local mfg has to make a gerber file of the score lines to get that info into their CNC machines. I don't know if PCBCart would do that or not.
I can make a gerber file of just the score lines, I don't know if that will work okay with the other gerber files from expresspcb or not. Another option is to convert the gerber files to DXF, add the score layer, then convert them back to gerber files. That way everything is sure to line up.
Bean.
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Never argue with an idiot.· They'll drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
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It's Only A Stupid Question If You Have Not Googled It First!!
Send me the files. I'll get them converted to DXF. You can adjust the silkscreen and add a SCORE layer. Send them back and I'll gerber them again.
It's worth a shot....
Bean.
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Teacher: What is the difference between ignorance and apathy ?
Student: I don't know and I don't care
Teacher: Correct !
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One thing I've learned — the hard way, unfortunately — is that you don't want to do the panelizing yourself. Fab houses like it a lot better if you send them Gerbers for a single board and let them do the step-and-repeat for the panelization. I usually just do a dimensioned panel drawing in Corel and print to PDF to include in the fab package. The drawing includes the panel outline and all the score and jumpscore locations in the panel, along with top and bottom rails and the guide/grip holes for the pick-and-place machine.
-Phil
Hmmm that is odd. I would think it would be less work for them if you send the gerber already in a matrix.
Do you know WHY they prefer to do it themselves ?
But our drafting guys do the same thing you suggest. They send a gerber of a single board and a drawing showing how to multi-up the board.
Bean.
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Teacher: What is the difference between ignorance and apathy ?
Student: I don't know and I don't care
Teacher: Correct !
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www.hittconsulting.com
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I used to do my own panelizing, until I screwed one up: one of the boards was offset slightly. When the fab contacted me about it, they told me that they'd much prefer to do that part themselves. I guess it just fits their procedures better -- less to undo, maybe? They didn't explain why. Maybe, in hindsight, they just didn't want me to do any more panelizing.
-Phil
Funny though, when I did multiple projects on one panel and panelized them myself, they cut all the boards apart for me. But the order that they panelizes, they just sent me 3 panels, that I had to snap apart myself. No biggie, they were scored so they snap apart easily and cleanly.
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Brian Meade
"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night" - Edgar Poe