Author Topic: PCB Express, Trackes and gcode for LinuxCNC.  (Read 2998 times)

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Offline mictasTopic starter

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PCB Express, Trackes and gcode for LinuxCNC.
« on: April 04, 2014, 08:42:20 am »
Okay, So in ExpressPCB I have drawn up a DIY arduino board. Now what I would like to do is create the tracks, the ones I have drawn in the attached image I am happy with myself. (note that I have seen that the LED is not linked to ground and already fixed that)

Things I am having trouble with:
Finding a free application that I can import my .pcb or .dxf file and create the tracks.
Create the gcode for LinuxCNC (I know it dose not matter all that much but still, just so you know)

Have I gone down the right path or should I have used another program?
 
 

Offline GeoffS

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Re: PCB Express, Trackes and gcode for LinuxCNC.
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2014, 08:59:34 am »
EDITED: You mention that you can produce a .dxf file from ExpressPCB. Most(all?) CAM programs should be able to produce gcode from this. There are also a number of free DXF to gcode converters for both Windows and Linux.

If you use Eagle there is an add-on to create gcode files from your design.
(Ask Shane at the hobarthackerspace as he has done this)
« Last Edit: April 04, 2014, 09:08:05 am by GeoffS »
 

Offline mictasTopic starter

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Re: PCB Express, Trackes and gcode for LinuxCNC.
« Reply #2 on: April 04, 2014, 09:09:38 am »
Does ExpressPCB allow you to export the file in a non proprietary format i.e. gerber or gcode?

Unless you can do that, there's no way to input the file into LinuxCNC.

If you use Eagle there is an add-on to create gcode files from your design.

(Ask Shane at the hackerspace as he has done this)

I can only export files as pcb and dxf. I can export an image file, but that only rendered the through holes.

As for contacting Shane I'm going to do that once I have the gcode and not before.
 

Offline GeoffS

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Re: PCB Express, Trackes and gcode for LinuxCNC.
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2014, 01:27:16 am »
The Eagle g-code plugin will give you more control over the milling setup than will converting the ExpressPCB files to DXF then gcode.
Take a look here http://pcbgcode.com/
You board shouldn't be too hard to convert to Eagle.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2014, 01:33:09 am by GeoffS »
 


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