Electronics-Lab.com Blog

Cadsoft Eagle is a freeware circuit and PCB layout program well known among electronic hobbyists. One way to turn your design in actual PCB is to submit it to a PCB manufacture and have it shipped to you. But what files you should submit? This article discuss about how to save Eagle designs as industry-standard gerber files that are accepted by every manufacturer. Check the steps needed to save your design on gerber on the link below.

How-to: Prepare your Eagle designs for manufacture - [Link]

This video shows the process of etching a circuit board using the photoetching method. Check the video to learn more about the process.

Circuit Board Etching - [Link]

I have been using the toner transfer method for about 9 years with great results. Occasionally I would need a board with finer traces and I would use UV method. My exposure setup allowed only a single sided board to be made and it was composed of a 30cm UV tube, some holders, a table, board and film. Exposure time was rather long as the tube was far away from the board.A few months ago I was looking for some LEDs at one of my suppliers and found that the also had UV LEDs. My mind went directly to upgrading my not so great setup, so I began looking on the internet for info. It turns out some other people have done it, and this instructable confirmed it was really possible. A LED UV box has a clear advantage over a tube one: it can be made in any size, depending on the needs.I bought 25 LEDs and began to experiment. This way I was able to find a compromise between LED density (spacing), distance between LEDs and board and cost. I wanted something compact, I don’t make large PCBs and those 30cm tubes were not right for this job.

LED UV exposure box - [Link]

This article will guide you through the steps needed to make your own printed circuit boards.

First of you’ll need to make the layout you will be transferring to your copper board in a CAD program. I use CadSoft’s Eagle software, which I find easy to use.

Making your own printed circuit boards – [Link]

This article discuss how to apply solder paste on PCBs step by step. Read about it on the link below.

Solder paste placement is probably the most critical stage of the PCB assembly process, and most assembly problems can be traced back to poor paste placement. If you want to avoid time-consuming manual rework on your assembled boards, it’s essential that you have a clean, precisely positioned layer of solder paste. A few extra minutes ensuring that your paste layer is correct can easily save hours of rework with a hot air gun and a soldering iron later. Thankfully, there’s nothing magic about it.

Solder Paste placement – [Link]

This project is a 3D printable PCB Holder that is used for holding circuit boards at comfortable angles, hobby modeling, and holding stuff. All the parts are easily available at hardware stores and hobby shops. The total cost is about $4.50. This project is available on thingiverse.com where you can share your own digital designs.

PCB Holder – [Link]

Ever wondered having your own UV exposure box in your lab but couldn’t get one because of the high cost? Don’t kill your dreams so easy. Now you can make your own UV exposure box and print your own printed circuits boards in your home. In this article we will find out how to construct the appropriate box and the required electronics inside it. This is a basic guide and not a super detailed guide. Many easy to understand thinks are missing. Don’t loose more time, let’s start with the specifications.

Build your own UV exposure box with fluorescent like lamps - [Link]

In this article read about how Keith choose Gold Phoenix to build his PCBs for EasyBright led driver. Read about the order procedure.

Gold Phoenix for EasyBright PCB Manufacturing – [Link]

DesignSpark PCB is a free PCB design tool from RS. It has no limitation on board size, layouts, pin count etc. It is able to be used for schematic capture and for generation of manufacturing files. It’s support multi page schematic capture, gerber ouput so you can manufacture the PCB on your favorite vendor. Find more details on the link below. [via]

DesignSpark PCB – Free PCB Design Software - [Link]

Visolate is a nice tool used to produce the cut paths of a PCB and minimize the cutting work needed by CNC router.  This is done by calculating Voronoi diagrams. On the link below find out how to use this tool and make a board using a CNC machine.

Visolate: a nice tool to cut out a circuit board - [Link]