Homebrew PCBs

Stefan Trethan wrote:

>I sometimes make a copper pour, but i'm not very fond of "orphaned" areas  
>enclosed by tracks, and deleting them makes the board look very strange  
>with copper all round but areas missing.
>Since etchant costs almost nothing i don't worry much about it.
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>ST
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  The real reason to do it isn't cost.  Copper is a moderate poison, 
better for it to sit on a board where it does relatively little harm 
than have more back outside.  Also usually helps your board to widen the 
traces, amazing how often .040" traces will be fine..  Just use 2-3 
times the gap around any areas, to make sure they etch well and aren't a 
problem area..  I don't go nuts over it with every little space, but if 
there is a large unused area or two it's reasonable enough to not worry 
about it.

Alan