Useful idea when drilling PCBs

[a soBer Newt]

Not my idea but well worth sharing I thought

[Perkla]

Seems cool.. but not worth it.. for home use i´d say your eyes will do it just fine...

[deadastronaut]

^unless you wear glasses like me...   

i use a lamp with a magnifying lense to solder these days...

[Perkla]

^unless you wear glasses like me...   

i use a lamp with a magnifying lense to solder these days...

I wear glasses as well, i find it easy to drill just by looking wuth my eyes when drilling IF its a smal PCB and not 1000 holes to drill

[SteveG]

"I use a lamp with a magnifying lens to solder these days..."

I'm not quite there yet, but estimate I'll be joining you in about another two years or so. I used to just be short-sighted, but now I'm becoming long-sighted as well as short-sighted. Eventually I guess I'll only be able to see things that are exactly six feet away!

Steve

[DavenPaget]

"I use a lamp with a magnifying lens to solder these days..."

I'm not quite there yet, but estimate I'll be joining you in about another two years or so. I used to just be short-sighted, but now I'm becoming long-sighted as well as short-sighted. Eventually I guess I'll only be able to see things that are exactly six feet away!

Steve

Well , i am joining too . Not that i am short sighted or long-sighted , my magnifier doesn't work properly ! 

[waltk]

I'm not quite there yet, but estimate I'll be joining you in about another two years or so. I used to just be short-sighted, but now I'm becoming long-sighted as well as short-sighted. Eventually I guess I'll only be able to see things that are exactly six feet away!

Let me guess... you're about 40 or 42? (That's when it happened to me).

Assuming you don't want to undergo painful arm-lengthening surgery.  Get some of these: http://www.doneganoptical.com/optivisor.php
They are pricier that some, but great quality, and you can swap lenses with different magnification.

For the OP - very cool (if a little excessive).

[deadastronaut]

me too...

cool headgear...might have to invest in a set of those...even for reading..

[DavenPaget]

Oh yes , if you want 'them microscopes :
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/portable-usb-adjustable-200x-digital-microscope-with-led-illumination-52014
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/digimicro-200x-zooming-usb-digital-microscope-11743
But the 2nd one is awesome ! See the attached SMD shots 
Here's hoping they work , but it should , if it doesn't get a refund .

[therecordingart]

That is damn cool. How do I do it? What is he using? 

[SteveG]

"Let me guess... you're about 40 or 42? (That's when it happened to me)."

I wish! More like 51. Ouch!

[Ice-9]

Me too, used to have amazing eyesight, but last year the windows product key started getting hard to read when installing windows, now i can't even read the newspaper. A couple of years ago i could remove and resolder 48 pin TSOP chips by hand with no sight aids. Yes at early 40's presbyopia sets in and you can't fix it with anything except stronger and stronger glasses.

[Gurner]

As the guy who made the video alluded to himself - thru hole is a complete pita, so very 1970's, massive sideburns...."everybody was Kung Fu fightin'" 

[Thomeeque]

 I like this useful idea when drilling PCBs:

What a challenge to build something like this, time to time I'm considering it, that would be a great tool!

T.

[mattthegamer463]

Reading all this, I noticed how uncomfortable my eyes felt after staring at this PC screen for the last couple hours...

I'm 21 and I feel older than I should.  I don't think I'll have many remaining useful body parts by the time I'm 40.

[Gurner]

I like this useful idea when drilling PCBs:


What a challenge to build something like this, time to time I'm considering it, that would be a great tool!

I did. (out of scaffolding pipe, old dot matrix printers and computer cabinet blanking panels ....fugly as could be.

It was a great challenge...the results were great, but my oh my what a time sump....it's a whole new genre - building it is just half the story...you've then got to calibrate it, learn how to use the code that drives it etc (even just aligning your etched pcb so that the drilled holes all end up in the right place is a ballsache).....like I say a great bit of brain food.....but don't enter into it lightly.

Knowing what I know now, I'd say buy a secondhand one off ebay and use that to learn.....even better, just learn how to move over to SMD! That said, even that poses similar problems....dispensing the paste accurately and in a timely manner for prototypes, for which I will press my CNC into action to yield something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG_Sy0FT3EA ...I'm about 80% there for that method)

[defaced]

Not my idea but well worth sharing I thought

Thank you.  I've been pondering a solution to that, and this will do very well.  Even an analog solution that uses a lens and a mirror would be super sweet. 

[Thomeeque]

I did. (out of scaffolding pipe, old dot matrix printers and computer cabinet blanking panels ....fugly as could be.

Wow, I'd like to see that, do you have some photos or video, please?

It was a great challenge...the results were great, but my oh my what a time sump....it's a whole new genre - building it is just half the story...you've then got to calibrate it, learn how to use the code that drives it etc (even just aligning your etched pcb so that the drilled holes all end up in the right place is a ballsache).....like I say a great bit of brain food.....but don't enter into it lightly.

Yep, I did feel that this would be huge..

Knowing what I know now, I'd say buy a secondhand one off ebay and use that to learn.....

I'll check

even better, just learn how to move over to SMD! That said, even that poses similar problems....dispensing the paste accurately and in a timely manner for prototypes, for which I will press my CNC into action to yield something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG_Sy0FT3EA ...I'm about 80% there for that method)

Good luck with that, thanks for your post, T.

[Gurner]

I actually just sold it last month ( don't have access to my photos of it presently - but believe me ...pretty it was not). The reason I sold it was to get even more accuracy....I bought a brand new one from those friendly folks in Asia. My DIY build was fine enough for drilling out say thru hole....but not really sufficiently accurate to dispense say a tiny bit of solder paste on a SOT23-6 pad.

I don't think most hobbyists realise just how much of a win a CNC machine is....it's not just drilling out pcbs, but a whole gammut of stuff that until you get one, you then wonder why every man doesn't have one in his garage!  (ok cost might be one reason....but you get the drift)....so if you can beg steal or borrow one (or buy a sh one on Ebay).....make the effort, you'll never look back - everything becomes possible (or at least it adjusts your mindset so that everything seems possible - and with that is 80% of the battle won IMHO)

[Ice-9]

I actually just sold it last month ( don't have access to my photos of it presently - but believe me ...pretty it was not). The reason I sold it was to get even more accuracy....I bought a brand new one from those friendly folks in Asia. My DIY build was fine enough for drilling out say thru hole....but not really sufficiently accurate to dispense say a tiny bit of solder paste on a SOT23-6 pad.

I don't think most hobbyists realise just how much of a win a CNC machine is....it's not just drilling out pcbs, but a whole gammut of stuff that until you get one, you then wonder why every man doesn't have one in his garage!  (ok cost might be one reason....but you get the drift)....so if you can beg steal or borrow one (or buy a sh one on Ebay).....make the effort, you'll never look back - everything becomes possible (or at least it adjusts your mindset so that everything seems possible)

Gurner, Do you have any links to the CNC machine you got, I would love to get a small cnc miller. 1. For drilling pcb's and maybe for accurate drilling of enclosures. 2. I do some radio controlled modelling so it would be a great thing to be able to mill small parts for modelling as well as some small milling off motorcycle stuff.