topic Re: Placing vias on PCB outline in EAGLE Forum

Placing vias on PCB outline

m3atwad — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 01:00:46 GMT

Hello,

I am trying to place vias on the PCB outline to create the below discussed castellated via affect.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/eagle-forum/how-to-draw-castellated-edges/m-p/8827348

I think Eagle let you do this back in the day, but I noticed now switching to fusion 360 the objects like vias cannot be placed "on" the PCB outline as the tool prevents the via/cursor from going that far.

My current solution is to make a separate additional PCB outline layer that goes to the board house and drop the eagle layer. This works, but the issue is that I can't push the board to fusion 360 for mechanical engineering because fusion gets the default PCB outline that I dropped rather than the new one I created to accomplish this castellated via affect.

Long story short - is there a way to either use the default eagle PCB outline layer with vias drop/centered on the PCB edge as discussed in the linked post? Or, is there a way to tell eagle to push my PCB design with the new PCB outline layer to fusion so I can get the castellated via affect in Fusion mechanical modeling?

Thanks for any help!

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

bidrohini — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 14:52:51 GMT

@jorge_garcia do you have any solution to this problem, sir?

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

m3atwad — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 01:24:50 GMT

It seems as thought this behavior has changed a little over the years. It would be helpful if I could just disable the function that is preventing parts from being on or near the default PCB outline. This issue happens on all 4x sides of the PCB outline.

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

jorge_garcia — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 19:24:08 GMT

Hi @m3atwad,

I hope you're doing well. You can set the violators mode to ignore violators which will allow you to place the vias wherever you want. You can set that on the toolbar on the middle bottom of the screen, it's the rightmost icon.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

m3atwad — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 22:11:30 GMT

Jorge,

Thank you for the reply! I had no idea that option was there and it is exactly what I needed! For the second part of the question, do you have any advice as to how to get the mechanical CAD (fusion 3d) to actually show castellated vias? Basically how to show the vias cut in half? See attached image.

Right now they are still complete circles.

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

jorge_garcia — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 22:43:14 GMT

Hello @m3atwad,

Currently, there is no way to show the castellated edges on the 3D PCB. We do have an open ticket for it.

Best Regards,

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

m3atwad — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 03:14:01 GMT

Thanks Jorge!

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

john.teoli — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 17:28:10 GMT

Any updates on this ticket? This is really going to cause some issues for integrating PCB models into our mechanical models once the EAGLE servers are turned off.

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

jorge_garcia — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 19:37:10 GMT

Hi @john.teoli ,

I hope you're doing well. There is no update at this time.

With that said, EAGLE can't handle this any better so isn't this a problem for you right now? I want to understand how the EAGLE servers being turned off in the future changes the situation.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

john.teoli — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 20:24:02 GMT

Jorge,

When we push a PCB (.brd file) from EAGLE to the linked Fusion model, the
resulting fusion model will cut the via at the board edge (i.e. the plated
hole stops at the board edge drawn on layer 20. The model just treats the
plated hole as a hole in the board, it does not model the copper). When we
push a fusion 2D pcb to a fusion 3D pcb, fusion models vias as complete
copper features. Therefore, castellated vias appear as complete plated
holes that hang off the board opposed to semicircles on the board shape
which stop at the board edge. I can hide the board copper in the model, but
that will hide the traces and other copper features on the PCB.

Regards,
John Teoli

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

jorge_garcia — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 15:59:44 GMT

Hi @john.teoli ,

Would you be able to post pictures of this? From what I know the behavior you describe doesn't exist in EAGLE. I would like to see this because then I could go to the developers and say "EAGLE could do it, why can't Fusion" and that tends to move things along.

Really curious to see what you are seeing when you push from EAGLE to Fusion.

Best Regards,

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

john.teoli — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 17:28:08 GMT

The forum only lets me upload three images, but that should be okay because the same eagle .brd was imported to fusion. Using fusion, when I push a 2D pcb to a 3D pcb, the layer copper is pushed over as a 3D body including the portion of the castellated via's annular ring. I can just hide all of the copper features, but ultimately that will produce a less detailed 3d model.

However, when I push the same file from EAGLE to to the linked fusion model the pcb model does not have the copper/board over hang problem. I understand the copper isn't actually modeled as a separate body in the model pushed from fusion, but ultimately the model is ultimately more useful to work with because it appears closer to how a manufactured board would. I believe I can move the 3D pcb to a regular 3D model and manually trim the overhanging copper, but this is still additional post processing time.

Regards,

John

Re: Placing vias on PCB outline

jorge_garcia — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 22:48:46 GMT

Hello @john.teoli ,

I hope you're doing well. That is really interesting, I'll make a ticket for this. Thank you for the images.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,