I have a specific PCB that is designed with Edge cuts layer cutting off an arc of the circular through-hole pad (that has All cooper layers connected, in this case F.Cu and B.Cu)
I am pretty amazed by KiCad as in the 3D view of the PCB it looks just like I want it to look. Pad is covering the inner edge of the hole making contact possible on F.Cu and B.Cu. It is cut off where it needs to be cut off. But… the error “Board edge clearance violation” is raised. That is why I wonder is it safe to create Gerber files and send it as such to the manufacturer.
Has anyone had somewhat similar PCB issue and produced it regardless of the error and did it turn out OK?
I have checked this topic:
…it helped me to understand what is going on and what KiCad is complaining on. But still, my requirement is for the Edge cuts layer to cut off that copper from that pad. It is a bit of an unusual requirement, but there it is
If you want this, then ignore the kicad warning.
But be aware that the resulting boards might contain flaws. Milling through copper is not recommended by the pcb manufacturers. Some pcb manufacturers also simply reject such boards. Every pcb manufacturer has it’s own design constraints, and you are probably violating these with your design.
So you should ask your pcb manufacturer if your solution is good enough.
In general your question looks like you want to implement something like a custom sideplating on some places of the board edge. This feature is currently not natively supported by kicad. Depending on the pcb manufacturer there are different recommendations to achieve this. So that is also a question for the manufacturer.
last note: looking at the milling cutout it seems it is very thin. Ask for the minimal available diameter for the milling bit - you should not draw cutouts with smaller dimensions.
yes, like you say, it is dependent on the manufacturing process, there is probably a risk of pealing the copper (ENIG) while milling. If someone had a good experience with manufacturing something similar, I would be glad to hear it (if not permitted to post about it, you can DM me).
yep, thanks. I hope I get it produced right. This is the first time that I have such untypical design requirements, so I am trying to get as much info as possible.
it’s a valuable precautious observation from you as I did not specify the dimensions. tnx & respect… the inner diameter of the pad is 2.54 mm and the passage is not less than 1.5 mm. I see drill size range stated by the manufactures is covering it.
But, I am not sure how the passage between the two circle holes is drilled/milled, not an expert on this processes… and the PCB is very thin, and flexible, actually a PET, so maybe they laser cut it or machine cut, i don’t know… will also have to check. I hope a good manufacturer will take care of all of these questions
Drilling a hole and milling a slot use different tools. The problem with milling into copper is that it ‘sticks’ to the bit and alters the chip load. Small milling bits running at 50k rpm can break quite easily if the flutes get gummed up. I would speak to your manufacturer first.
Tnx! That’s a good insight, I guess I will have to take special care to resolve that with the manufacturer.
Please advise if there are any other issues that I would need to communicate to the manufacturer or if you know of any standard practices how such features can be specified to the manufacturer in KiCad. It is probably something that should be pointed in the comments and resolved through email conversation with the tech support from the manufacturer
The NPTH hole also looks way to close to the THT pad next to it. It’s likely to violate manufacturing rules.
Where did you get this switch footprint from?
