Create a DIY PCB Directly From Your TinkerCad Circuit Design With Bread2Board

Are you a maker, hobbyist, or electronics enthusiast who has love-hate relationship with Breadboard circuits? Love what you can do with them but hate wiring them up?

Want to be able to make a real PCB directly from your TinkerCad design - no wiring, no waiting for a PCB service?

Well, you're going to love Bread2Board! Live Now on Kickstarter!

In this instructible were going do a walkthrough of how you can make a DIY PCB from TinkerCAD with Bread2Board

Of course you going to need the Bread2Board accessories. But don't worry it's designed to be low cost!

Consider Backing the Bread2Board Kickstarter to pick yourself up the

Bread2Board Machine ( Check back for Kickstarter part 2 )

OR

Bread2Board Manual Kit from the Kickstarter Part 1 Manual System Live Now!

1. Stencil Kit
2. HotPlate Kit
3. Bread2Board PCB Blank Templates

Plus

1. Kapton Tape
2. Soldering Iron
3. Low Temperature Solder Paste
4. Vinyl Sheet
5. 1/16' Hole Punch

The Bread2Board Machine is going to be awesome, but the Manual System is available now and the steps should feel familiar to anyone who has done any work with surface mount parts. If you haven't then these are useful skills to develop!

What we are going to do is:

Stage 1: Generate the Bread2Board Configuration PDF

1. Export the TinkerCad design files
2. Import the files in the Bread2Board WEB Importer
3. Step through the Online Wizard to generate a configuration PDF

Stage 2 : Use the Bread2Board Configuration PDF to follow the Bread2Board Manual Process

1. Print out the PDF onto vinyl and a second onto paper as a cross-check
2. Make a custom stencil using the stencil kit
3. Using the custom stencil to apply solder paste to specific solder bridges on the Blank PCB Templates
4. Reflow the Blank PCB Templates on the HotPlate Kit
5. Apply the Vinyl Sticker as a SilkScreen
6. Viola! You have a custom PCB you can solder your components onto using the Silkscreen as a guide!

So you've got a TinkerCad design you would like to make into a permanent circuit board. Good Job!

For this instructable I will use this design to show the steps.

2 Digit Segment 7 Display - Tinkercad

We are going to use the TinkerCad Export feature to export the

1. .BRD - Electronic Exchange BRD file
2. .PNG - Project Image

But first we need to check the design for Bread2board compatibility

✅Only supports the Small Breadboard

✅Requires origin Capacitor C0

✅Power rail should be on top

Small Breadboard

Make sure your design is using the small breadboard form

Origin Capacitor C0

Check the design is using a capacitor with name C0 in the top left corner of the design. A bypass capacitor like this is good practice anyhow and it is used a reference for processing the .BRD file

Top Power Rail

The preferred convention is to use the Top Rail at the power rail. This requires the Small Breadboard be rotated 180 degrees from the original placement position.

TinkerCad supports two export Data Exchange files we need to work with Bread2Board

1. .BRD - Electronic Exchange BRD file
2. .PNG - Project Image

.BRD

The .BRD is a PCB layout in the Eagle file format. If you have the correct software and experience you can import this file in Eagle and create your own PCB Gerber files which you can use to order from a PCB Service. The process of ordering from a PCB Service is getting easier and cheaper every day. However there really is no way to get around the time delay which is at least a few days and more often a week or more for a pcb service to deliver you boards.

The cost for the PCB's has come way down when using services in China but on the flip-side this means there are significant shipping costs and more time delays. Then you have to also think about import duties, tariffs and courier fees for collecting the duties. Not to mention the knowledge how to do the design and coordinate all of this.

With Bread2Board you can make a quality double sided PCB in minutes by following this instructable.

.PNG

A picture of the circuit design can be exported as a .png image. The great thing about working with BreadBoards is the circuit really is WYSIWYG What you see is what you get. So when we use this image as the Bread2Board Silkscreen you know exactly where components go. Not just as basic outline with identifiers like U1 or J3, but the actual picture of what you are going to place and where.

SEND TO

Export is actually very easy - just open the SEND TO Dialog in the top right corner then:

1. CLICK .BRD Button - To download the .BRD file to the Download folder
2. CLICK Picture of your Design Button - To download the .PNG file to the Download folder

The Bread2Board Wizard is a Browser App you can use to generate the Bread2Board Configuration PDF

>> To open in your browser Click this link : Bread2Board Wizard

Wizard Step1 : Upload .BRD

1. Click the Choose File Button and locate the .BRD file you exported in the previous step
2. Click Next

Wizard Step 2: Upload .PNG

1. Click the Choose File Button and locate the .PNG file you exported in the previous step
2. Click Next

To know how to align the Silkscreen the Wizard needs to know where the top left corner hole and bottom right corner hole are.

Using the magnifying glass:

Wizard Step 3a : Click Top Left Hole

1. Locate the center of the top left hole and click to place a red cross-hair.

Wizard Step 3b : Click Bottom Right Hole

1. Locate the center of the bottom rightt hole and click to clip the silkscreen.
2. You should now see the clipped silkscreen.
3. If you missed the center of the holes click RESET to try again.
4. When your happy with the alignment click NEXT

The output of the Bread2Board Wizard is a PDF which is to be printed to Vinyl.

To re-use the Vinyl sheet you can select a location.

Wizard Step 4 : Click Print Location

1. Select the preferred location and click NEXT

Wizard Step 5 : Click PDF

1. 🎉Congratulations! You are ready to download the Bread2Board PDF for Making your Bread2Board

Once you have Bread2Board Configuration PDF you are ready to start to FAB your board.

First print 2 copies.

1. Vinyl Copy - used for the silkscreen and custom stencil fabrication
2. Paper Copy - used for the verification during fabrication

Once your Manual Bread2Board accessories arrive you will be able to follow the

Bread2Board Manual Process Instructions

1. Make a custom stencil using the stencil kit
2. Use the custom stencil to apply solder paste to specific solder bridges on the Blank PCB Templates
3. Reflow the Blank PCB Templates on the Hotplate Kit
4. Apply the Vinyl Sticker as a SilkScreen
5. Viola! You have a custom PCB you can solder your components onto using the Silkscreen as a guide!

In the meantime, considering backing the Bread2Board Kickstarter to receive what you need to continue this instructable!