Hello. Greetings to all.
I am a student new to kicad. I wanted to know how to remove the top copper layer using rubout option. I have heard that increasing the milling width can also help in some ways. I would like to know how to do it.
Kindly help me with your valuable suggestions.
Thankfully,
sheethal
Moved to a new topic.
Iām not 100% sure what you are asking but it sounds like something you can do by editing the zone properties. Move your cursor over the zone boundary and hit the āeā key for edit. You can reset your clearance from there.
If you want to remove it do the same thing but hit the ādeleteā key instead.
PCBNew doesnāt have a āruboutā option, so you need to more completely describe your intention here so we understand what you mean. Hopefully someone can translate your intention into the correct terminology for PCBNew.
Milling boards to make PCBs, while is now a common way of hobbyists making their own boards in this era of inexpensive desktop CNC mills, is not the normal industry method of making PCBs. Actually, if you can wait a couple weeks, getting boards professionally made is often much more cost effective than any of the DIY methods. Thus PCBNew doesnāt have any direct support for creating milling g-codes. Typically this is done in a gerber to g-code post processing process. Iāve never done something like this so I canāt give any pointers. Or are you just misunderstanding the PCB fabrication process?
Thank you for the attention.
My intention here is to remove the copper from the outer region of the trace the trace, i.e, say I need to remove copper from the left side of a particular trace.
I am using elevenslab machine for printing and the rub out option is available in the designpro. I mentioned rubout just to clarify my intention, am sorry if that was confusing.
My question is : Is there any option in kicad which can convey my intention to the manufacturer, like an option to design the pcb with no copper at a particular region? Or is this option not involved in the designing phase?
P;ease correct me if I am misunderstanding the process.
I think @SembazuruCDE is correct in his thinking. Your description sounds like a tool to counteract manufacturing effects (I would suspect this particular tool is to counteract the fact that mills cut differently depending on if it cuts with the rotation direction or against it.)
Taking care of such things is not part of the design process. What is drawn in KiCad and by extension the Gerbers exported from it represents the nominal (expected) dimension of the board and its features. (If i draw a trace with 0.2mm width in KiCad then i expect that the trace will have this as the nominal dimension.)
Any manufacturing specific changes (That counteract known problems with manufacturing) need to be done by the manufacturer. (The manufacturer is the only one who knows these things for their particular machine. For high precision even things like current temperature, position and rotation within the machine, age of consumables, ā¦ will go into this. Parameters that really can not be known beforehand.)
It could however very well be that we have a communication problem here. If that is the case try to find a picture that explains what you want to do.
Iām sure you are using different conception then we here.
I will write how I understand you. You have a trace (assume 0.5mm width) and you wont to cut one side of it (assume you wont to cut 0.2mm so you will left with track 0.3mm width). So my answer is - change track width to 0.3mm and shift it to the right (as you wont to cut some cooper from its left) 0.1mm and you have what you wonted.
I hope that if it is not the answer you wonted than at least it will help you to understand why we donāt understand you.
Or the other understanding.
You have the trace going through the middle of the PCB and you wont to have cooper zone to the right of it and not to the left of it. And you ask how to remove the copper to the left. My question then is - as you have zone to the left than you have to put it some time before - why you have done it as you donāt wont it?
If you have put the zone at all PCB then remove it, and put new one only on the right of your trace.
You can add Keepout Areas with option ākeep out copper poursā. You can also add a cutout to each zone (select a zone -> context menu -> Zones -> Add a Zone Cutout). Downside of both is that if you move the trace you have to move or edit the non-copper area manually, too.
After going through the explanation given by @Rene_Poschl I think I misunderstood the designing process. So @SembazuruCDE was right. I think these adjustments can be made in the printing phase by the manufacturer.
But I just wanted to clarify what @Piotr mentioned. Actually I donāt want to reduce the track width. I wanted to remove the copper beyond the track. By reducing the track width I can only reduce the width of copper line which will act as a wire, am I right?
If it is correct, then what I meant it to use this ātrack width adjustingā option to reduce the width of copper such that it will not conduct, i.e, form an insulating line on my pcb and not a conducting track. I need to create an insulated the region.
Please correct me if I am wrong. And kindly suggest me some source which can help me in understanding the basics.
Thank you for the responses.
Thank you. Keep out copper pour may help in making my design more clear.
I am no longer certain that we understood you correctly. Is it possible that you have a copper zone and did not recalculate it? Press shortcut āBā to do so.
I suggest you post a screenshot of what you see and mark in it what you expect.
Iām not perfect in English understanding, but that sentence suggest me that you have a track at top side of PCB and wont to remove a copper at bottom side of PCB (beyond = on the other side - one of possible translations).
I am not sure, but may be you assume that you have a copper everywhere and your task during designing PCB is to show where to cut it off. If so then it is not so. You should assume that you have a PCB without any copper on it and your task is to put each piece of copper you need. And as factory really does it in opposite way is not your business.
I get the impression that the question is about isolation milling https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board_milling
This is not directly supported in KiCad but there are solutions that can process the output files (i.e.Gerber files) directly e.g. https://github.com/pcb2gcode/pcb2gcode
Isolation milling is a useful but somewhat limited prototyping technique but it is not how most pcbs are made. Perhaps watching a video e.g.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QWuUGm7m4qs
of the normal manufacturing process might help in understanding the techniques and the vocabulary used so that you can clarify your question further - as it stands, it is somewhat unclear what you are after.
I am really thankful for the suggestions and explanations, especially @Rene_Poschl, @Piotr and @John_Pateman .
I will go through the websites mentioned by @John_Pateman and try to get the proper vocabulary. And will come up with a screen shot soon.
I was thinking exactly the same sir.
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