Elegant PCB Artwork Metric-Imperial Ruler
1" x 34 cm x 1.6 mm Double-sided, Gold-plated FR-4, made to last forever, with design inspiring patterns
PCB RULER - What is this?
Although it looks like a do nothing ordinary ruler at first, let me explain some features I consider important, not easily found on those cheap plastic and inaccurate rulers bought from office supplies. On the metric side, there is a 34 centimeter ruler with 1 cm, 0.5 cm and 0.25 cm markings, with 1 mm resolution. A resolution of 0.5 mm is provided at the starting 2.5 centimeters area. All these dimensions are printed with the accuracy of a CAD software design and of manufacturing from Gerber files, exactly the same way today's real PCBs are made.. This assures that the tool can really measure length. Starting at 0 mm exactly on the edge adds the capability for measuring depth. It has 23 holes, with diameter ranging from 0.2 mm to 2 mm with 0.1 mm resolution, and from 2 to 4 mm with 0.5 mm resolution, and these can be used to measure diameter. How many times it happened that new PCB you'd just made has a wrong hole diameter and the component cannot fit correctly? It will not happen again, if while designing your new pcb, try fitting that connector pin or wire on the right hole to test prior to finalizing your design! Just insert the lead into the hole that fits alright and read its diameter. Then, use that figure for your PCB design pad hole. This procedure is not at all similar to just measuring the pin diameter with a caliper and using this dimension, it should be made larger. The tool can also help you to visualize the area needed for your circuit, because it has most modern component footprints printed on 1:1 scale just in front of your eyes, laying on a pcb material similar to what you are designing. This will help a designer benefit from a direct comparison from all those reference footprints. A full AWG 30 to AWG 0 gauge helps to determine cable/wire size. About the AWG sized holes, please note that the actual AWG size dimension is drilled, so if you ever need to make a pad hole for a specific AWG size cable, you should use slightly larger diameter hole for that pad. On the imperial side, there is a 13.38 inch ruler, with one/half/quarter inch markings, with 25 mil resolution. Finally, the ruler sides have many examples of "printed components" one can use, physically made from pcb pads and traces completely. These include antennae, RF filters, couplers, splitter/combiner, fuses, inductors, a kind of touch or water sensor, a spark gap and some trace only drawing techniques, used for equal trace length, shielding and guarding sensitive circuits. This simple imperial/metric ruler turns to be a valuable PCB design aid. Many friends of mine, not at all involved with electronics by themselves, find the look of this ruler attractive and a bit "artistic". I think it really is. Always PCB design was a kind of art. And some PCBs are pieces of Art!
Matching wooden base is available
The ruler described here is a high-quality ENIG FR4 PCB (25.4 x 340 x 1.6 mm) that ships with registered mail (your signature is required on delivery). We usually ship the next day and it takes about a week to 10 days for USA or Australia, less than a week for Europe.
