Hello,
How do I know if the drill sizes in my library are compatible with BatchPCB’s toolrack?
For now I know that my design passes Sparkfun DRC. I’ve uploaded my design to the BatchPCB bot and it passed…
I’m pretty sure I have non standard drills though…
How do I know what drill sizes Batch PCB is going to use?
Thanks!
Your drill file has lines that read something like this:
T01C0.0400
T02C0.0472
T03C0.1300
Those are drills .04, .0472, and .1300 inches in diameter.
Most PCB places just use the nearest drill size they have in their rack (normally within 0.1mm or so I think). Larger holes are usually milled out.
Note that almost every place specifies FINISHED hole diameter after plating (ie, the actual drill size will be slightly larger than what your drill file says). The exception to this is Olimex, who specify the hole size BEFORE plating.
MichaelN:
Most PCB places just use the nearest drill size they have in their rack (normally within 0.1mm or so I think). Larger holes are usually milled out.Note that almost every place specifies FINISHED hole diameter after plating (ie, the actual drill size will be slightly larger than what your drill file says). The exception to this is Olimex, who specify the hole size BEFORE plating.
When you say that larger holes are usually milled out (when non standard drills are used), what happens to the copper pads? Are the pads resized to accommodate the larger hole, or does the pad end up being partially drilled out?
Thanks!
The holes are drilled / milled BEFORE the board is etched, assuming they are plated through. Non-plated holes need to be drilled / milled after plating (but before etching I think).
They normally start with 1/2 ounce copper on the double-sided board, drill / mill the holes, then put it in the plating tank to plate the holes and build up the copper to 1 ounce.
Not sure if that answers your question though. They will NOT resize your pads, but they will (except for Olimex) resize the drills to give a final (plated) hole size that you specify. Don’t make the holes too small, especially if your boards are getting a solder finish, since they ight turn out a bit smaller than you expect (I found this out the hard way once, and had to press some connectors in using a lot of force).
Finally, make sure the “annular ring” size (ie, difference between pad radius and hole radius) is big enough. The minimum annular ring size will normally be specified by the manufacturer, but it defenitely shouldn’t be as small as the minimum track width.
sylvie369:
Your drill file has lines that read something like this:T01C0.0400
T02C0.0472
T03C0.1300
Those are drills .04, .0472, and .1300 inches in diameter.
Hi,
I can see the drill sizes in the .dri file. Where are these defined? I’m guessing that would be in the CAM file… But couldn’t find the information.
Could you help me find this?
Thanks!
jeanseb:
sylvie369:
Your drill file has lines that read something like this:T01C0.0400
T02C0.0472
T03C0.1300
Those are drills .04, .0472, and .1300 inches in diameter.
Hi,
I can see the drill sizes in the .dri file. Where are these defined? I’m guessing that would be in the CAM file… But couldn’t find the information.
Could you help me find this?
Thanks!
I just realized there is the possibility to open a drill rack (drl) file in Eagle. Does Batch PCB provide such file?
Thanks!
Are you using Eagle? I had a bit of a hard time identifying my drill file, until I realized it’s one with a .txt extension.
I don’t know how you would go about telling the software what size drills you want to use: the Sparkfun-provided CAM .job file seems to make the file for you without any intervention, based on information already in the libraries. I’m using only standard drills, though, as far as I know, and so for your non-standard drill sizes, you may need to figure out how to make the adjustments. Sorry that I can’t help on that, but I’ll be eagerly watching the thread.