Breaking Boards

[Krallum]

Is there any easy way to do this? After i had the circuit soldered and realized that my enclosure was like 1/8th inch too small (yeah i did like 0 planning when i made this, but it worked the first time around so hey) . So i used a 10" compound miter saw, it was a bit excessive. I saw that you could do it with needle nose pliers or something but there is no way i could've gotten that leverage.

how u do it?


(and i will definitely be etching from now on when possible)

[Wild E]

I have used tin snips on perfboard, but do it slowly and with love. Otherwise you can score it with a razor knife on both sides then snap it off with a pair of pliers. Whatever you do be careful or you may wind up re-soldering it all over again.

[mth5044]

Just today I scored perf on the front and back and it worked beautifully.

[petemoore]

 I score' one side with the wire cutters [exactly inline with a row, takes practice to score but not break]
  Then from the other side the same thing, and a little bit of board-bend right at the break line isn't bad either.
  Score with utility knife is another option, then wire cutter inline with a row and bend pressure.
  Gone as far as to drill each hole in a row with a big bit [just a little, not all the way through], score and break with wire cutters, this was a long/wide phaser and I had a board long ago diagonally break right through where the circuit was.

[Krallum]

word i'm assuming i should score much deeper than you would for a track cut for veroboard.

[mth5044]

You don't have to go incredably far. I usually do about 7 or 8 strokes with a knife on each side. You can go deeper if you want. I do use the cheap radioshack board, so that may be why it breaks so easy 

[Derringer]

I'm a big fan of pinching the board in a vise and then cutting with a full size hacksaw

as long as I can pinch maybe 0.25" in the vise, and have a straight line to cut, I'm good

otherwise, if it's real tight and not big enough for the vice to get a firm hold, I'd just grind it down with a rotary tool and small sanding drum

[petemoore]

  Pinning the board down to the straight end stop is recommended [end stop is free].
  With end stop on board cutting squarely and safely is much breezier.
  By positioning my shoulder joint squarely inline behind the cut line it makes it easier to draw the knife exactly down the line [ninja scoring technique]...nothing worse than a messy 'went beside the score line score'.
  For safety, use the end stop.
  Once I got real good results 20 times with the wire cutter method I preferred it, still, a little bit of score goes a long way, because if the board breaks funny the story has ended.
 

[fatfoohy]

I have used a bench grinder with much success, use the finer of the two grinding wheels, hold the board in your hand and grind away. It leaves a nice clean edge and doesnt snap the board anywhere

[davent]

A Dremel with a diamond cutoff wheel will trim it off like a hot knife through butter.

dave

[smallbearelec]

A Dremel with a diamond cutoff wheel will trim it off like a hot knife through butter.

Yes, but if you do it this way, WEAR GOGGLES!!

[deadastronaut]

use another enclosure!!!...lol.

[Paul Marossy]

Just today I scored perf on the front and back and it worked beautifully.

That's what I normally do. If it's just a little bit that needs to be removed, like say 1/16", I'll take it to the grinder in the garage.

[Krallum]

use another enclosure!!!...lol.

obviously but i didn't want to wait any longer to get it finished, plus i'd already drilled the holes for it which might i add was a pain in the ass

[deadastronaut]

use another enclosure!!!...lol.

obviously but i didn't want to wait any longer to get it finished, plus i'd already drilled the holes for it which might i add was a pain in the ass

Only joking .....

[R.G.]

Coarse sandpaper laying flat, edge of PCB rubbed on the sandpaper.

Nibbling tool.

Take small bites.