PCB-GCODE is specifically designed to covert an Eagle PCB design into GCODE for isolation routing. It is written and maintained by John Johnson.
www.pcbgcode.org/ groups.yahoo.com/group/pcb–gcode
- Design your board in Eagle
- Convert to GCODE with PCB-GCODE
- Run GCODE through an autoleveller
- Mill your PCB
Of course, there are a lot of ‘sub steps’.
PCB-GCODE installation
Download PCB-GCODE from the downloads section of the forum.
PCB-GCODE configuration
Calculating Tool Width
Drill Rack
This is a super-handy feature of PCB-GCODE. The challenge is that the component designs in Eagle have a massive range/array of hole sizes, so that a single board can have 20-50 different diameters of holes. This is simply not practical. Not just the drill inventory, but the number of tool changes would make you crazy. The Drill Rack feature allows you to define the drill diameters you have available and the range of diameters for which a specific drill diameter can be substituted. Here is my low-tech Drill Rack, populated based on my needs and experience.
My rack contains
1. 0.0236in 2. 0.0320in 3. 0.0400in 4. 0.0453in |
5. 0.0625in 6. 0.0938in 7. 0.1250in (currently loaded in my milling machine) 8. Milling bit (60 degree) |
Here is the contents of my drill rack file (DrillRack_1.drl):
tool drill_size minimum maximum length T01 0.0236in 0.000in 0.025in 1.5in T02 0.0320in 0.025in 0.035in 1.5in T03 0.0400in 0.035in 0.045in 1.5in T04 0.0453in 0.045in 0.055in 1.5in T05 0.0625in 0.055in 0.080in 1.5in T06 0.0938in 0.080in 0.100in 1.5in T07 0.1250in 0.100in 0.200in 1.5in

Placing Text on your PC Board
I have found two ways to include text on your PC board. Engraving and milling. I have been using the milling option, but I prefer engraving. The two approaches look completely different.

Milling Text
Milling text involves putting the text (as vector font) on either the top or bottom of the PC board – along with the traces. The lettering will be “isolation milled” exactly like traces. About half the time I manage to machine away most of the text.
Engraving Text
TBD
Double-sided PCB milling
TBD
[move to milling page] Drill bits
[move to milling page]Ring or no ring