How to create diagonal cross hatched plane on PCB

[gr8flash]

It seems that Fusion 360 Electronic only allows vertical/Horizontal cross hatched fill in Polygon Pour.  How can we create a DIAGONALLY cross hatched plane on PCB?  Please help.

Thanks

[jesper8W75R · Accepted solution]

I'm afraid you'll have to make your board with all components in a 45 degree angle. 😉

This was originally intended as a joke, but I just checked and it's actually (sorta) feasible.

After your board is complete, rotate it 45 degrees, and voila, diagonal polygon fill.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @gr8flash ,

I'm curious, why do you want the polygons diagonally hatched?

Best Regards,

[gr8flash]

Hi Jorge,

Most if not all of the PCB's that have cross hatched ground shield out there have diagonal cross-hatch lines.  My guess is that it helps minimize the cross section of the traces above or below it.  Also, it looks much better with the diagonal hatch.  Another reason (which is more of an aesthetic) is that with the vertical and horizontal hatch, it is difficult to space the lines evenly without having the last line parallel too close to the edge of the polygon

Thanks,

Don

[gr8flash]

I could not figure out how to rotate the whole PCB 45 degree.  Also, it is not easy to draw a polygon at 45 degree offset.  Thanks,

[jesper8W75R · Accepted solution]

Just use SELECT to mark everything, select ROTATE (or MOVE), enter 45 in the Rotate field and use the group move/rotate function (Cmd + Right-Click on Mac, not sure what it is on Windows).

Enable all layers before you do this, to make sure you get everything with you.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @gr8flash ,

Thanks for the clarification, I had completely misunderstood what you were talking about, my mistake. Follow Jesper's suggestion if you want it to be diagonal. From a functional perspective there is no benefit in diagonal vs straight but I get that aesthetically it might look better.

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

Best Regards,

[gr8flash]

Can it be an option in the future?

Thanks,

[gr8flash]

Rotating the whole board does not work on my Windows 10 PC.  Thanks anyway.

[jesper8W75R]

You might be doing something wrong, that should definitely be possible.
Otherwise, you should post a bug report, that is a serious problem.

[gr8flash]

I finally was able to rotate the board 45 degree (Thanks!) poured a polygon with diagonal hatch relative to the board position.  However, when I rotated the board back to 0 degree, the diagonal hatch did not stick.  The hatch seems to always be vertical/horizontal to the screen regardless of the position of the PCB.  I am back to square one.  Does that means I have to export Gerber file with the PCB at 45 degree to get the diagonal hatch?  Or did I miss something?  I tried to save the PCB at 45 degree offset and then rotate it after but the hatch did not stay diagonal.

Thanks,

[jesper8W75R]

Polygons, with or without hatch is dynamically processed, so they won't "stick" with a save.
You would have to export to Gerbers in the rotated state, to get the diagonal hatch.
I'm no manufacturing expert, but I would thing it would not matter for production as they can, for panel efficiency reasons, just rotate it back.
Worst case, a slightly higher PCB cost.