Frequently asked question on the subject of designing, creating, producing printed boards, veroboards or perfboads and on point-to-point construction techniques.
Would anybody care for a tutorial on how to make PCB's that look like this?
It's really not that hard with a program such as Illustrator or Inkscape. I wouldn't mind making a tutorial if there's enough interest.
btw, that particular PCB is for an ROG Ruby, and it was my first one to do like this. It still needs a little bit of fine tuning, but you get the idea.
Here's my first go at the tutorial. It was done in Illustrator, but shouldn't be too hard to use for Inkscape, or any other true vector program.
If you see anything that needs correcting, or if something isn't very clear, just let me know and I'll update things.
I'm still relatively new to doing them this way (haven't even etched one yet), so there may be easier/better ways, but this is what works for me at this moment.
Glad you like it! I realize that it is more appropriate for someone who already has knowledge of how to use vector graphics programs. So, I'll try to help out as much as I can with any questions.
As I've said before, I can't contribute much as far as the circuits go, but I don't want to be a leach either. So, this is the best way I know how to contribute to the community.
I am really going to have to learn to use EagleCAD!
You don't need Eagle to do this. I just use Eagle to make sure that I have everything connected together right. I use Illustrator to make the fancy PCB traces.
Completed builds: rebote 2.5; supreaux; odie; heartthrob tremolo; ross phaser; dr. boogey; thor; baja black toast; slow gear attack, rebote, tri-vibe, small clone, little angel, magnus modulus, echo base, hex fuzz, big muff, 22/7.
The more spread out you can make your layout, the better. I played around with a real tight layout today, it didn't turn out looking quite as good. It still looked better than your standard straight lines though
As I've said before, I can't contribute much as far as the circuits go, but I don't want to be a leach either. So, this is the best way I know how to contribute to the community.[/i]
I only wish for more people like you and your attitude.
One thing that I overlooked was adding some thermal isolation, as shown in the below image:
Without these, it can take a bit too long to heat up the area around the component. This little bit of isolation helps to keep the heat localized on the pad rather than trying to heat up the entire plane/trace.
You'll need to play around with sizes to match your own personal methods of creating PCB's.
Completed builds: rebote 2.5; supreaux; odie; heartthrob tremolo; ross phaser; dr. boogey; thor; baja black toast; slow gear attack, rebote, tri-vibe, small clone, little angel, magnus modulus, echo base, hex fuzz, big muff, 22/7.
I was wondering why so many of these layouts out here have them... thought it was a limitation of the software used to make the layouts or something... thanks for pointing that out
world's greatest tautologist ...in the world
Ronsonic wrote:...the lower the stakes the more vicious the combat.
I wasn't sure what they were for either, until I saw madbean talking about them somewhere. Then it made a lot of sense... especially after fighting to get a lead soldered into a very large ground plain without any thermal barriers. The light went off then
My name's Sean, and I write for MAKE magazine. I'm planning to do a post
to our blog about decorative and/or artistic etching of functional PCBs,
and Google led me to your forum post and tutorial on freestompboxes.org
.
Make: Online gets about 100,000 pairs of eyes a day, and if you wanted the
buzz, I'd be glad to include your work in the post. I was hoping to get
permission to maybe post the PDF of your tutorial and a couple of images
from it. Also, if you have any pictures of finished decorative PCBs that
you've etched, I'd be glad to include them. And I'll also gladly link to
any kind of personal site or other web presence you might maintain.
This is really cool work, BTW. Nicely done.
Cheers-
Sean
Here was my reply...
Thank you for contacting me Sean. At the moment, I'm going to have to decline. If I can find time to update the file I might allow you to use the info. If you read the entire thread, you would have noticed that I left off quite an important aspect. If I can find the time to add this info to the tutorial PDF, I will allow you to use it. Should that time come, I do not want ANY of my contact info made available. I am strictly a hobbyist, and do not want the headache of answering any emails regarding the tutorial.
Again, you do not have permission to repost any part of my tutorial. If I have time to update it, I may allow you to use it, but don't count on it happening. I'm just really not interested in any kind of promotion or exposure. I did this only for the Freestompboxes.org community.
Completed builds: Completed builds : Proco Rat MXR MicroAmp in a volume pedal TubeDriver (w/ NoS russian tube and big muff tone contol) + Phase 45 (w/ univibe cap ratio) Dallas Rangemaster (w/ noisy OC75, negative ground) SubCaster tube booster (w/ NoS russian tube, PtP) Hot Harmonics Music From Outer Space SubCommander in progress Crackle Not OK Simple bass blender in a 1590A Bazz Fuss with a photo-darlington
I was definitely flattered, and honored, but the tutorial is unfinished in it's current form (the thread tells it all, but the PDF doesn't), and I just don't see myself doing anymore to it anytime soon. If you don't add some kind of thermal isolation, it will make soldering a real pain in the ass in certain areas. That's not included in the PDF, so I didn't want to pass on information that may cause people grief. I also feel a bit inferior compared to other stuff on their site.
btw, what the hell is the "slashdot-effect"? That's the second time I've seen someone refer to that today.
Artistic PCB Tutorial.pdf
