@takigama
My 2 cents… your M.2 connector misses Pin 1 mark.
And you should get rid of the silkscreen print for U2 as it’s not needed and due to positional errors looks bad.
Oh, and when you do mousebites (did you make them or did OSHpark make them?) I’d make sure they sit deeper so you don’t have those spikey things left sticking out but being recessed to the overall edge where they can’t do harm.
@tekdemo
The copper plane around those pads doesn’t look exposed to me? Those are thermal spokes…
R4 on the other hand has got a track going by too close for those soldermask clearances and positional errors and the track get’s uncovered partly:
Also the routing of that connection between pad 72 & 74 of the M.2 connector looks a bit odd to me (as pad 72 is extended it must be connected to something like the copper pour there?):
Overall I would say the soldermask clearance setting is a bit on the high side for the positional error being shown here and could have been dialed down somewhat (0.05 mm instead of 0.1 mm).
All of those are actually “as per the original design from kicad”… some of it is “my bad” some of it is freerouting oddities, but it has indeed printed exactly as it is in kicad:
The clearance was something i was a little unsure about while i was doing the board it did feel too large everywhere, but being my first board i was loath to change it from the defaults, plus I wanted to get this printed mostly to see how the m.2 and pci connectors came out compared to the kicad layouts… There are one or two problems with the board which arent fatal
Good news everyone! Everything is FINALLY official. From here on out, you’ll see Kicad cheerfully mentioned when placing an order, and we’ll commit to supporting the latest stable version.
Thanks so much to Anool, Madworm, and Andrew_Sowa, for the bug reports, and everyone else who tested things looking for problems. Certainly wouldn’t be as comfortable with full support had you not stepped up and given us a good stress test.
This will be good news. As it stands now w/o plated slots, some SMT connectors aren’t possible. Because of their geometry a large enough plated hole for the case tabs would encroach too much to the signal pins. I have one design that I haven’t sent out anywhere yet that I’m concerned about. (Although BAC was able to do a previous revision of that board with a through-hole connector with plated slots even though they didn’t officially support it.)
I’ve used this for a number of projects… not a single “wobble” or worry. The OSH Park press release obscures the point, I think. Now you just, in KiCad, create your design, save it. Just a basic “KiCad save”.
Then go to the OSH Park site, log in, and point to the .kicad_pcb file. No exporting to Gerbers any more.
One other “gotcha” that wasted a little time for me: The homepage for OSH Park has a big “Get Started” button. That is not only for new customers, but also for returning customers. It is for “start a new order”, as well as for “start a relationship with us”.
To assist others who may be considering OSH Park, you could mention some of the notable characteristics of the PCB’s they fabbed successfully - especially any that approach “leading edge” or “state of the art” (whatever those phrases mean!). Examples might be an elaborate outline, many layers, tight trace width/space geometries, cutouts, advanced pad shapes, holes other than round, BGA footprints, etc.
I’ve done a few boards at OSHPark uploading my .kicad_pcb file instead of gerbers and haven’t had any issues with the quality or accuracy of the boards that I’ve recieved.
I have a good story about OSHPark’s customer service. Recently I (well, my makergroup’s treasurer) ordered 3 boards. (3 of two of them and 6 of a third.) Somehow the shipment got lost and OSHPark re-manufactured the boards and sent them with a different shipper. On the second manufacture of the boards OSHPark discovered that one board was damaged so they only sent 2 of that board. But within a week they sent 3 replacements for that one damaged board.
With exceptional customer service like that, they have earned a loyal customer. My laptop cover is slowly being taken over by the different versions of the OSHPark stickers.
I have used OSH Park several times in the last few months, and it has been really great! The KiCad upload option has worked flawlessly.
On one occasion, I had an “old-school” PCB layout guy basically chew me out in front of my boss for even suggesting OSH Park for a prototype board run. This made my boss pretty nervous about using them, but I finally convinced him to try (hard to beat the price!). Our project was a pretty complex 4-layer PCB, and they arrived looking awesome. They were successfully loaded by a local assembly house and have been working great though the testing process.
I’m writing this to reassure any other engineers and designers who have been harassed by “old-school” PCB guys. OSHPark works!
Dale’s point is fair. I must admit that I’m just a “little hobbyist”… two sided, simple boards being the zenith of my ambitions. It should also be said that OSH isn’t the cheapest outfit on the planet… but by paying a LITTLE extra, you save yourself the hassles that places whose main claim to fame is their price can lead to. They do fast prototyping at one price, bulk orders at a different price. I have no knowlege of the bulk mfg marketplace.
I’ve written up details of “how to use OSH” at the following… if you want “hand holding”. OSH make things so easy that you shouldn’t need the web-page, really… but maybe reading through it will give you an idea of “life with OSH”.
From here on out, you’ll see Kicad cheerfully mentioned when placing an order, and we’ll commit to supporting the latest stable version.