Homebrew PCBs

On Sun, 19 Jun 2016 19:35:41 -0700, you wrote:

>So I've etched my boards for my TV Typewriter reproduction.  I'm quite happy
>with the result, however now comes the hard part - drilling and cutting.
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>For drilling, I have a dremel press with 1/32 and up bits.  I did some
>experimental drilling with it and managed to drill fairly accurately where I
>can see the holes.  However, some of the holes were obliterated during my
>efforts to enhance the PCB artwork, and especially for ICs I'm finding it
>hard to keep them aligned.  I know I have a tiny bit of flexibility there,
>but I'd like to keep em straight.  I find it very hard to gauge where the
>bit is.  I was tempted to get a full drill press for this but reasoned the
>sight laser probably was going to be too big anyway.  Anyway, advice?

You may not be happy with this idea, but I have an upside down drill
press.  You might be able to reconfigure the Dremel into this
configuration, but it's a bit of work.  If you could put the drill
press up on blocks, put a 45 degree mirror on the bottom so you could
look at the bottom (and then drill upside down), all you'd need would
be a way of figuring out where the drill would hit.  If you had a
little TV camera with a pair of crosshairs pasted on the TV screen,
that would work.

Your other problem might be that the bearings in a dremel are pretty
wobbly, but you can do a decent job if you're careful.



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>The next thing is cutting - I found a fiberglass jigsaw blade and man, it
>cuts like butter.  But keeping it straight is another matter.. wondering if
>there's a better avenue?
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A shear can work well, but you can also use (from what I've heard) a
tile cutting saw with a diamond blade.

Harvey

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