Homebrew PCBs

Answering from the perspective of "Home Brew PCBs"...

Bob Macklin <rottenrobbie0@...> writes:
> Do you know what a GERBER machine is? It is used to make a photo
> mask.

Yes, I know what a gerber file is, and what a commercial photoplotter
is.  I wrote a gerber viewer for Data General in 1988 (where I
designed PC motherboards), and the current gerber plugin for gEDA's
PCB program.

> The GERBER is a laser photo plotter.

"The gerber" these days is a text file with photoplotter commands,
with syntax conforming with the RS274D or (more recently) RS274X
standards.  It was originally designed for a mechanical photoplotter
with an aperture wheel, not a laser photoplotter.

> I worked on the original at Dickson Eletronics in Scottsdale in
> 1969.

And did you do better than 6/6 rules at home back then?  If so, how?
That's what I'm interested in.  As I said, I know commercial fabs can
do better, but how can we?