Homebrew PCBs

"Well realize that those via tubes cost money.  Plus the crimping operation
is 
a PITA for them."

I was thinking of the plugs, not the tubes, sorry.  I just read up on the
tubes, yuck.

----------------------

"Feed wire through the board, 1/16" or so extra.  Move the board slightly,
so 
a block just above and just below catch the wire and start to bend it.  Cut
the 
wire just above the board, same 1/16" or so.  Push the board on through the 
blocks, bending the wire ends the rest of the way over."

The bottom block could make a full pass and stop in place, having bent the
wire and now  supporting it in place, a small snipper mounted on a solenoid
slides out, cuts, opens and slides back in, the top block makes a full pass
and then both blocks retreat.  I like that, straightforward, synchronized
motion.

----------------------

"Just over 30 gauge hole and 30 gauge wire should work easily."

I don't know what 30 gauge wire is, but I do have .030" copper wire.  I get
this at the Dollar and Up store of all places, in the Arts & Craft section.
It's cheap and we can get tons of this stuff.

----------------------

"A breeze to do with a driller that slides the board instead of the drill
etc.  Drill, wire feed, and bending blocks all stationary and within an inch
or so of each other."

Well, I was thinking of using a moving drill, but now that you mention it, I
could change my idea to a center-mounted stationary drill, and have a
platform slide over another platform.

Also, I could install several other tools on the sides, front and back of
the drill.  Once you calculate the offset from the drill center to each tool
center, the rest is easy.

----------------------

"And cast the right LED color over the board (Blue or green since copper is 
reddish) and the copper traces will be darker and a silver or tin plated
wire 
will almost glow.  Easy to quickly solder all the vias both top and bottom
if 
they stand out so well."

I was thinking on using the toaster-oven reflow technique for my soldering.
I have a new digital one waiting just for that.


Robert
:)



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