Drilling a PCB

[DeusM]

Hey guys!. Me again . I was wondering the right way to drill the holes in a PCB and so far I don't have a clear answer. Many people make their one drills but I don't have all the tools to make one.
I was going to buy one of this for the enclosure.:

Will It work for the PCB too? What do you think? They are not super expensive so to seems like a good option.

[Electron Tornado]

I use a Dremel tool with a drill press specifically for it. It looks like Dremel calls it a "Workstation":   https://www.dremel.com/en_US/products/-/show-product/tools/220-01-workstation  I think SmallBear, among others, carries those.

Drill bits small enough for a PCB and will fit a Dremel tool are fairly easy to find as well. Buy several bits in case you break one.

[DeusM]

I use a Dremel tool with a drill press specifically for it. It looks like Dremel calls it a "Workstation":   https://www.dremel.com/en_US/products/-/show-product/tools/220-01-workstation  I think SmallBear, among others, carries those.

Drill bits small enough for a PCB and will fit a Dremel tool are fairly easy to find as well. Buy several bits in case you break one.

Only in America... Only in North America. I don't think I can get those in here.

[GiovannyS10]

Hey DeusM I am your neighbor from Brazil and here in South America i do my PCBs using a puncher. I already showed it some times here but maybe you not saw. It's cheap, i only advice you buy some points, because it point broke easy after 6000~8000 holes, but it costs less than R$ 3,00 (1 USD).

O advice you to add a led light too. It allows you to punch in three different sizes so fast like a stapler hahah
Good luck, let us know any issue.

[greaser_au]

These generic drill presses can be purchased fairly cheaply (the same thing seems to be available in a lot of different brands), but most will require a bit of tuning to make them work reasonably well even for general use...   They can have quite a bit of runout in the quill shaft (and so at the chuck),  and lots of slop in the quill housing.  Just fixing these two problems may need more loving than the average DIYer can give. These are the main problems that can make drilling PCBs a bit of a challenge. Your experience may be different to mine, so if you're going to buy one of these machines for enclosures anyway, make sure the chuck goes down to the size of the drills you want to use - otherwise you  will need a pin vice, or a small auxiliary chuck to hold the small bits.

The main issues with using any "large" drill press for drilling PCBs are spindle speed and accuracy. I'm not saying it can't be done (I have used one in a factory situation for doing PCB modifications), but lots of  care and attention is needed.  A micro drill press or micromotor machine (e.g a dremel) with stand is a better proposition in general.

HSS drill bits dull quickly, and carbide end mills need stability or they will break.  There are a few threads discussing PCB drilling solutions (and workarounds) on this forum, with contributions from folks with a lot of experience.

david

[DeusM]

Hey DeusM I am your neighbor from Brazil and here in South America i do my PCBs using a puncher. I already showed it some times here but maybe you not saw. It's cheap, i only advice you buy some points, because it point broke easy after 6000~8000 holes, but it costs less than R$ 3,00 (1 USD).

O advice you to add a led light too. It allows you to punch in three different sizes so fast like a stapler hahah
Good luck, let us know any issue.

What kind of puncher is that? Is it like a thing you get in a shop for office stuff? I dind't undestood the thing with the LED how does it allow me to have 3 diferent sizes?

[karbomusic]

I use a Dremel tool with a drill press specifically for it.

I use the Dremel and the Dremel branded drill press attachment. It isn't 1000% steady but I learned it's predictable behavior and at this point it's a non-issue, having pretty much zero issues drilling PCBs. I did look into other solutions such as the very precise press RG mentions in a couple threads but I was never able to justify the cost because what I have didn't cause enough issues for it to be worth the extra expense.

[Mark Hammer]

Carbide drill bits are the ticket.  For two reasons.  First, they last.  Second, because they have a wider shank/shaft, they are more easily andreliably centred when used with a chuck that may not be the world's best.

Try to make sure there is a little dimple or indent to help center the point of the bit.

[DeusM]

I think I'm going for a mini drill like a dremer or something cheaper. A guy from my town told me he uses that and it works just fine. There are some that are not too expensive so thats cool. As time goes by I'll invest more and tools but for my first pedal I think I spent the right amount of money  Thanks guys!

[GiovannyS10]

What kind of puncher is that? Is it like a thing you get in a shop for office stuff? I dind't undestood the thing with the LED how does it allow me to have 3 diferent sizes?

Here you find it in electronics store

[davepedals]

built this very accurate pcb drill from a cheap wen drill (good as dremel imho) and an old sears drill holder.  Very little mod required, pvc pipe to fit the drill attachment into, a bit of gorilla glue!

[DeusM]

What kind of puncher is that? Is it like a thing you get in a shop for office stuff? I dind't undestood the thing with the LED how does it allow me to have 3 diferent sizes?

Here you find it in electronics store

Did you made that video just to show me? Thanks man!  you are awesome. I'm going for the mini drill, or hand drill, I don't know how to say that in english since I can get one for very cheap and maybe I can use it for more things. Maybe later I'll built r get built the atachemet for more easy drilling. Thank for all your advises guys!

[slashandburn]

FWIW, I purchased a big bench pillar drill like the one pictured in the first post, thinking it would let me drill both enclosures and PCBs. Enclosures it's fine, but for PCBs I found it barely adequate. It got me by but was pretty frustrating to work with. Boards came out a bit of a mess and carbide drill bits snapped often (every 5 or so holes). I assume there's some give in the Chuck or it just not drilling quite true.

I eventually got a proxon micro mot and it's much easier to work with and drills perfect holes. I don't think I've snapped a single drill bit with the micromot either. The pillar drill just takes up space now until I've got enclosures to drill.

*not a sales pitch for the proxon micromot. It has its own little issues. I just wanted to +1 the suggestions that a dremel/micro motor rotary tool  is far better suited to the task than bench pillar in the OP.

[GiovannyS10]

Did you made that video just to show me? Thanks man!  you are awesome. I'm going for the mini drill, or hand drill, I don't know how to say that in english since I can get one for very cheap and maybe I can use it for more things. Maybe later I'll built r get built the atachemet for more easy drilling. Thank for all your advises guys!

Yeah man, for you see how special you are. And awesome? Yes, they say it to me frequently - btw it's my nickname hahahah. Anyway good luck with your buy!

[cab42]

I have always wanted to build this one, called the drillotine:



from this thread:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=105520.msg950821#msg950821

[armdnrdy]

I purchased a Micro Mark mini drill press a few years back and....would go back to using my old Dremel drill press only if I were held at gun point!
The degree of precision is night and day. The Dremel is like a child's toy compared to the Micro Mark.

[DeusM]

I have always wanted to build this one, called the drillotine:



from this thread:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=105520.msg950821#msg950821

I saw it too and wanted to try to make one of those too. Maybe in the future.

I purchased a Micro Mark mini drill press a few years back and....would go back to using my old Dremel drill press only if I were held at gun point!
The degree of precision is night and day. The Dremel is like a child's toy compared to the Micro Mark.

yes. It seems nice but I have too buy the drill for the case too so... not much money in my pocket. In the future Im planing to buy propel tools of course.

[GiovannyS10]

Using that materials + Arduino you can do a CNC easy. Maybe it worth.