PCB Drilling Rig

[bean]

Man, you could sell this to a lot of people!  And I know the perfect name for it - the Drillotine (because the action is like a guillotine).

Brilliant!

[Jdansti]

I like Dave's idea. I have a hard time hitting the center of those little pads when I use my Dremel press in the normal way. It's not the press that's off. It's my inability to set the bit in the right spot. The crosshairs would take care of that.

Not to take away from Dave's great idea, but say you don't have access to a computer near your drilling rig. What are some other ways to get better accuracy?

How about a 1/2" wide clear acrylic strip with crosshairs on it mounted above the bit. There would be spacers (a few washers) between the acrylic and the press table to allow just enough clearance to slip the PCB under the acrylic. You'd want to use a very thin sheet of acrylic to minimize parallax.

Any other low tech ideas?

[davent]

John, One suggestion i saw was to use cross lighting so you can see the shadow and the tip of the bit converge at the point where they'll meet on the pcb. Haven't tried that yet but will.

(In the layout software) I use a 20mil hole for any sized pad and found that when etched it works pretty well as a centerpunch divot, hold the PCB gently and the pcb will shift to center the drillbit, that's if you're close in the first place.

I've basically no depth of field vision so it takes a few holes before the brain can sort out the visual cues as to where the bit was relative to the pad and then get consistent drilling results, pretty slow process, move your head, re-cue the brain. This setup makes it difficult to miss and speeds things up considerably.
dave

[Jdansti]

Thanks Dave. The cross lighting sounds like a good idea. I think that part of my problem is the direction of lighting, so maybe that would help.

[Electron Tornado]

Dave's setup *is* the Dremel drill press, just re-shuffled so the Dremel tool is below the drill surface, and moving UP. This lets you look straight(ish) down on the to-be-drilled PCB from the top and line things up accurately with a crosshairs from the top. You get better accuracy.

See http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=104522.0

I just lay the PCB under the drill, lower the drill to be board to make sure it's centered where I want to drill, turn on the drill and drill a hole. For IC sockets I align a piece of perfboard and tape it to secure it. I seem to be able to get the accuracy I need. The difference may be that when I make a PCB I don't use pencil-thin traces or tiny solder tabs. I try to remove only as much copper as I need to. So, except for ICs, I don't need terribly great accuracy.

Not disparaging anyone's work by any means, nor anyone's desire to improve precision.

[davent]

 500 plus holes for a warmup, smooth sailing, no hiccups along the way.

[arma61]

Hi

while we're on talking about Dremel, does anybody use it to cut PCBs ?? what's the best disc, I have a Dremel (a cheap one) that I've never used, though I've seen video of guys using a disc to cut PCB, I have in the kit those red/brown-ish ones that looks abrasive, are they any good? or I've seen these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-10-pcs-22mm-Steel-Wood-Saw-Disc-Wheel-Cutting-Blades-For-Dremel-Rotary-Tools-/251191080279?pt=Sanders_Sandblasters&hash=item3a7c27b557

are they any better ? Need some advice before to hurt myself     

Thanks as always m8s!!
<3
Armando

[Tacoboy]

These are perfect for cutting PCB:
http://dx.com/p/30mm-cutting-disk-4-pack-7055#.UxcdmeOwYpA

[Mustachio]

Those reddish brown ones shatter pretty easy and can be a bit dangerous. Wear gloves and safety glasses and a face shield if you have one.

I use these fiberglass reinforced ones they don't shatter or break they just wear down and last pretty good even cutting steel.

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=426

I still swear by using tin snips to cut pcb board it's like cutting paper . Cost about ten bucks and last forever . Also no dust and much faster .

[davent]

These are perfect for cutting PCB:
http://dx.com/p/30mm-cutting-disk-4-pack-7055#.UxcdmeOwYpA

These, diamond coated discs, go through PCB material like a hot knife through butter, very thin and last a long time.

Tried one of the reinforced wheels like Jim mentioned for the first time on Monday,  cut off most of the side of a 1590 box, worked great and i still have the wheel to attack the next box with, and hardly any of it has worn away.

dave

[arma61]

I still swear by using tin snips to cut pcb board it's like cutting paper . Cost about ten bucks and last forever . Also no dust and much faster .

Thanks everybody for tips, I will have a look at those. Mustacho don't they broke in little pieces everywhere except where you need to ?? What material are they made of??

Ciao

[Mustachio]

Um

http://www.menards.com/main/tools-hardware/hand-tools/saws-cutting-tools/12-straight-tinner-snip/p-1455893-c-9123.htm

That's one of the sets of snips I use often. And I'm just gonna guess you mean the pcb material would break(shatter) cause lets face it there's no way these snips are gonna break cutting pcb material.

I personally have had no issue with pcb shattering or cracking or anything other then just slicing like paper. I've cut vero and a bunch of different FR4 , from cheap stuff to MG chems presensitized boards which are pretty thick.

I'm sure its possible to run into problems but so far I've had no problems with cutting pcb like this.

[deadastronaut]

^ nice...good leveridge

what about if you cut longer than 3 inch pieces..like an A4 long strip..

[Mustachio]

I usually cut out pcb's out of sheets of 4x6 and I've went all the way across without any problems. Like pac man , chomp chomp chomp chomp.

Most single sided FR4 boards that I've messed with have a tinny bit of give or bend to them.

If you where cutting a board from a pcb fab company those usually seem a bit stiffer/brittle , and you might wanna use a cutt off wheel or something like score and snap.

If you can bend your pcb material a little bit by hand it should be fine with snips, if you cant you should probably score and snap or saw it off.

[deadastronaut]

i have a mini table saw now..which is great, but i might invest in a pair of those for smaller stuff..


cheers jim.

[arma61]

.... cause lets face it there's no way these snips are gonna break cutting pcb material.

LOL!!  (yes, I miss the subject, PCBs in my sentence!!  )

The boards I have are almost impossible to bend, the thik part is made in vetronite that's how we call here in Italy,  don't know the english word, though "vetro" in italian means glass, so must me something glass-based, and probably the cutting wheel is the way to go.

Thanks

[therecordingart]

Hi

while we're on talking about Dremel, does anybody use it to cut PCBs ?? what's the best disc, I have a Dremel (a cheap one) that I've never used, though I've seen video of guys using a disc to cut PCB, I have in the kit those red/brown-ish ones that looks abrasive, are they any good? or I've seen these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-10-pcs-22mm-Steel-Wood-Saw-Disc-Wheel-Cutting-Blades-For-Dremel-Rotary-Tools-/251191080279?pt=Sanders_Sandblasters&hash=item3a7c27b557

are they any better ? Need some advice before to hurt myself     

Thanks as always m8s!!
<3
Armando

Tin snips.

http://www.grainger.com/product/24A439?gclid=CPW_seWV_LwCFewRMwodqRUAeA&cm_mmc=PPC:GooglePLA-_-Hand%20Tools-_-Cutting%20Tools-_-24A439&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=24A439&ef_id=Ut1OJAAAAP6ErOVt:20140305195234:s

[Jdansti]

Score both sides of the board with a utility knife before you cut. If the board decides to shatter, it should break along the score.

[tubegeek]

I've been doing fine with plain old desk scissors, after scoring both sides with a utility knife.

[PRR]

> The boards I have are almost impossible to bend, the thik part is made in vetronite that's how we call here in Italy,  don't know the english word, though "vetro" in italian means glass

Fiberglass.

Often green, though other colors are possible.

http://www.hi-wire.co.uk/acatalog/Epoxy_Glass_Boards_Vetronite.html

The other PCB stuff is "paper" (wood pulp with phenolic resin). Usually brown. Paper PCB was common in older electronics.

Fiberglass is MUCH tougher than paper.

The other factor in cutting is thickness. I got some extra-heavy fiberglass board to cover holes in a power panel. I wanted it thick enough that any electrical explosion could NOT get out before the whole box burst. I used a hack-saw. I don't think this stuff would cut well with tin-snips.