Homebrew PCBs

So what do you guys use for drilling boards? I have a cheap drill press which is barely adequate for occasional drilling, but there's enough slop in the quill that it's extremely difficult not to snap off <1mm bits. I've had the best results using the manual mill at a friend's machine shop but it seems silly to use a 3HP spindle to turn a .85mm bit. I almost bought one of those little Dremel stands since I have a couple of the rotary tools but I've heard they are flimsy and don't work well. Is there a good low cost option or am I best off just building something myself?

You are best off building yourself.

The drill travel is very short, so you can get away with a pivoting
swing arm. Make it like a triangle with the drill on one point, and
two bearing points on the other two points (or a piano hinge along the
edge). This is very stable and won't break drills. Spring load so the
weight of the drill and arm is balanced and you can easily move it.

You need a vacuum attached to keep the dust down, and a spotlight.

ST

On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 8:52 PM, James <jamesrsweet@...> wrote:
> So what do you guys use for drilling boards? I have a cheap drill press which is barely adequate for occasional drilling, but there's enough slop in the quill that it's extremely difficult not to snap off <1mm bits. I've had the best results using the manual mill at a friend's machine shop but it seems silly to use a 3HP spindle to turn a .85mm bit. I almost bought one of those little Dremel stands since I have a couple of the rotary tools but I've heard they are flimsy and don't work well. Is there a good low cost option or am I best off just building something myself?
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

On Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:52:11 -0000, you wrote:

>So what do you guys use for drilling boards? I have a cheap drill press which is barely adequate for occasional drilling, but there's enough slop in the quill that it's extremely difficult not to snap off <1mm bits. I've had the best results using the manual mill at a friend's machine shop but it seems silly to use a 3HP spindle to turn a .85mm bit. I almost bought one of those little Dremel stands since I have a couple of the rotary tools but I've heard they are flimsy and don't work well. Is there a good low cost option or am I best off just building something myself?
>

Dremel is a bit sloppy, and there's a bit of runout on the average
dremel tool.

I use a Proxxon, 20K RPM, and a better collet (steel rather than
aluminum).  Haven't tried their drill press, but I suspect it should
be a bit better than the dremel one.

Harvey

>
>
>------------------------------------
>
>Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

On 31/01/2010 19:52, James wrote:
> So what do you guys use for drilling boards? I have a cheap drill press which is barely adequate for occasional drilling, but there's enough slop in the quill that it's extremely difficult not to snap off<1mm bits. I've had the best results using the manual mill at a friend's machine shop but it seems silly to use a 3HP spindle to turn a .85mm bit. I almost bought one of those little Dremel stands since I have a couple of the rotary tools but I've heard they are flimsy and don't work well. Is there a good low cost option or am I best off just building something myself?
>    
I use a Minicraft drill and stand - similar to a Dremel. They work OK 
with tungsten carbide drills and FEC-1 material, but it's easy to break 
the drills with FR4. Proxxon is better, but costs a lot more.

Leon

The 12V proxxon drill is plenty strong for PCB drilling, and costs
half of a dremel.

I bought one just so I don't have to take the IB/E out of the PCB
drill stand each time I want to use it for other purposes. The IB/E is
a great tool, better than the dremel, but overkill for PCB drilling.

ST

On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 9:25 PM, Leon Heller <leon355@...> wrote:
>Proxxon is better, but costs a lot more.
>
> Leon
>

"James" <jamesrsweet@...> writes:
> So what do you guys use for drilling boards?

http://www.delorie.com/pcb/dremel-stand/

In article <hk4n1b+bp7q@...>,
   James <jamesrsweet@...> wrote:
> So what do you guys use for drilling boards?

I use a PCB drill, part No 546-1494 from http://rswww.com with solid
Carbide drills from http//www.megauk.com in a home made drill press.

-- 
Stuart
http://www.torrens.org.uk/ZFC/gallery/winsor.html

On Sun, 31 Jan 2010, DJ Delorie wrote:

> "James" <jamesrsweet@...> writes:
>> So what do you guys use for drilling boards?
>
> http://www.delorie.com/pcb/dremel-stand/

Because I'm not handy enough with wood to do something like that, I'm 
eyeballing something this: 
http://www.amazon.com/Proxxon-28606-MICROMOT-Drill-Stand/dp/B000209ZAE.
The Proxxon Micromot line is similar to Dremel, but without a lot of the 
gripes present with Dremel attachments.

-- 
David Griffith
dgriffi@...

A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

On Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:25:56 +0000, you wrote:

>On 31/01/2010 19:52, James wrote:
>> So what do you guys use for drilling boards? I have a cheap drill press which is barely adequate for occasional drilling, but there's enough slop in the quill that it's extremely difficult not to snap off<1mm bits. I've had the best results using the manual mill at a friend's machine shop but it seems silly to use a 3HP spindle to turn a .85mm bit. I almost bought one of those little Dremel stands since I have a couple of the rotary tools but I've heard they are flimsy and don't work well. Is there a good low cost option or am I best off just building something myself?
>>    
>I use a Minicraft drill and stand - similar to a Dremel. They work OK 
>with tungsten carbide drills and FEC-1 material, but it's easy to break 
>the drills with FR4. Proxxon is better, but costs a lot more.

Quite true, the proxxon (I use the industrial strength AC powered
model) is about 115 or so USD, and the drill stand is about 40.   Not
cheap, but I've tried the Dremel and for really fine  holes (say #70
or less), the proxxon certainly seems to be better.  You can see the
dremel wobble.  The proxxon did not.

Harvey

>
>Leon
>
>
>------------------------------------
>
>Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Hi,

 

This discussion is immediately interesting. I'm at the stage where I
need a drill press for PCBs. Because I'm already heavily invested in the
Dremel system, I was about to buy the Dremel drill press to use with my
XPR tool. I looked at the Proxxon system. It's nice and may be better,
but I do NOT need (and can't afford) yet another tool system!

 

Can someone tell me more details of the problems alluded to with the
Dremel? Can they be fixed with a little machining to tighten tolerances?
(I did that with their routing table.) Would just taking extra care be a
workaround? Or, is Dremel a totally lost cause for PCBs?

 

Jim

From: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of James
Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2010 11:45 AM
To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Drilling

 

  

So what do you guys use for drilling boards? I have a cheap drill press
which is barely adequate for occasional drilling, but there's enough
slop in the quill that it's extremely difficult not to snap off <1mm
bits. I've had the best results using the manual mill at a friend's
machine shop but it seems silly to use a 3HP spindle to turn a .85mm
bit. I almost bought one of those little Dremel stands since I have a
couple of the rotary tools but I've heard they are flimsy and don't work
well. Is there a good low cost option or am I best off just building
something myself?





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:08:34 +0100, you wrote:

>The 12V proxxon drill is plenty strong for PCB drilling, and costs
>half of a dremel.
>
>I bought one just so I don't have to take the IB/E out of the PCB
>drill stand each time I want to use it for other purposes. The IB/E is
>a great tool, better than the dremel, but overkill for PCB drilling.

I use the dremel for hand held stuff, where the runout is not
important.  I avoided the 12 volt proxxon because of the duty cycle. I
figured that the AC model was capable of continuous operation, and I
do a lot of drilling at one time, since I tend to do runs of different
PC boards.

Harvey

>
>ST
>
>On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 9:25 PM, Leon Heller <leon355@...> wrote:
>>Proxxon is better, but costs a lot more.
>>
>> Leon
>>
>
>
>------------------------------------
>
>Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

What size drill bits are used for most PC Drilling?
  Thanks for this thread..  I just went to E-bay and bought a Proxxon Press and AC Drill with free shipping $168 for all of it.  I also got that PCB kit with tank heater and air pump some one posted awhile ago and a cheap Laminator at Staples . Purchased a Temp controller for it from a group member who had 200 of them in his garage left over from his retirement. Bought 200 sheets of PCB transfer Paper from a E-bay supplier in China, PCB's from Ebay. Down loaded Eagle Software. Got a new HP Laser cartage.  Acid from Radio Shack. Now I think I'm almost ready to make that PC board

Larry Taylor KF6JBG
Home: cvrcsoaring (AT) earthlink (Dot) net 


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

What I used for many years is a little surplus 27V DC (brush
type)instrument motor. I had a machinest at the local hobby store make
me a coupler the connect the motor shaft to a pin chuck from a old dead
flexable shaft.

The first KEY is that the unit is small enough to be held in the and
between the thumb and fingers, this makes for easy drilling.  I power it
with about 40V from through a foot switch. The second KEY is to set the
foot switch up to short the motor winding out when you let you foot off
the swtich.  The short stops the motor is less than a second which is
important so the bit doesn't wander when moving to the next hole.  The
third KEY is to make sure there are .005 to .025" dia no Cu holes in all
the pads on the board you want to drill.  This acts like a center punch.
Put the bit in the void hit the foot swithch, dirlls quite fast.  I do
have to let the motor cool a little after bout a 100 holes or so.

You can only use HHS wire drills, carbide bits are way too brittle and
will snap with the first hole.  Keep a small pocket stone around to
resharpen the drill bits ever so often.  I am going to make a tiny disk
sander from another small motor to sharpen bits.

Yesterday I had a nice  $15 find at my local surplus store.  Its an air
bearing brushless 3 phase dc spindle motor and should make a nice PCB
drill spindle for my CNC Bridgeport.  From what I can tell the motor was
designed for Hard Disk platter testing and production equipment and
shoud spin up to 30,000 RPM.  Don't know the power but I shouldn't need
much to punch through .063 FR4 at 30K with carbide bits.

Anyone have any suggesitons or ideas on what I should do for a chuck
design.  Also be interested on suggestions for a burshless motor driver
IC as I will have to build a 3 phas power supply for the motor.

Here are some pictures of my hand drill and new spindle motor:

Pictuer Link <http://picasaweb.google.com/cschaffter/PCB_Stuff#>

Craig









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> This discussion is immediately interesting. I'm at the stage where I
> need a drill press for PCBs. Because I'm already heavily invested in the
> Dremel system, I was about to buy the Dremel drill press to use with my
> XPR tool. I looked at the Proxxon system. It's nice and may be better,
> but I do NOT need (and can't afford) yet another tool system!
> 
>  
> 
> Can someone tell me more details of the problems alluded to with the
> Dremel? Can they be fixed with a little machining to tighten tolerances?
> (I did that with their routing table.) Would just taking extra care be a
> workaround? Or, is Dremel a totally lost cause for PCBs?


I have used the Dremel Drill Press both the older version and the newer Version, when I do boards I maybe drilling 4000+ holes.  Really need to get my CNC project going but that keeps getting put off.  Normally if I break a bit it is because I failed to hold the board good or tried to move the board before the bit cleared the board.  Don't really seem to have a problem with runout breaking the bits.  No Dremel tools are not the best, and the drill press not the best either but does work well for drilling PCB's.  I use .7mm (.0280") bits - 2mm (.0787") bits I might break 1 bit during a run of borads, guess 1 bit in 4000+ holes is not too bad, and that is normally due to getting in a hurry.

Get yourself a couple of good lights to light the work area from each side and a vac nozzle mounted to suck up the dust with a shop vac.  Mount the base of the drill press to your bench or a piece of plywood and some pads for your elbows to rest on.

So if you already have a Dremel go ahead and get the Dremel Drill Press.

Ben

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Ben L" <bhleavi@...> wrote:
>
> 
> 
> > This discussion is immediately interesting. I'm at the stage where I
> > need a drill press for PCBs. Because I'm already heavily invested in the
> > Dremel system, I was about to buy the Dremel drill press to use with my
> > XPR tool. I looked at the Proxxon system. It's nice and may be better,
> > but I do NOT need (and can't afford) yet another tool system!
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Can someone tell me more details of the problems alluded to with the
> > Dremel? Can they be fixed with a little machining to tighten tolerances?
> > (I did that with their routing table.) Would just taking extra care be a
> > workaround? Or, is Dremel a totally lost cause for PCBs?
> 
> 
> I have used the Dremel Drill Press both the older version and the newer Version, when I do boards I maybe drilling 4000+ holes.  Really need to get my CNC project going but that keeps getting put off.  Normally if I break a bit it is because I failed to hold the board good or tried to move the board before the bit cleared the board.  Don't really seem to have a problem with runout breaking the bits.  No Dremel tools are not the best, and the drill press not the best either but does work well for drilling PCB's.  I use .7mm (.0280") bits - 2mm (.0787") bits I might break 1 bit during a run of borads, guess 1 bit in 4000+ holes is not too bad, and that is normally due to getting in a hurry.
> 
> Get yourself a couple of good lights to light the work area from each side and a vac nozzle mounted to suck up the dust with a shop vac.  Mount the base of the drill press to your bench or a piece of plywood and some pads for your elbows to rest on.
> 
> So if you already have a Dremel go ahead and get the Dremel Drill Press.
> 
> Ben
>

I just looked at the Proxxon stuff, it looks nice and price doesn't seem too bad either.

How good is it? So far my drilling has been a hand-held pin-vise which while it works, is very very slow and painful, I definitely need a machine!

I don't need some elaborate $10,000 optical drill machine but I do want something that will work well and is of decent quality. Do these Proxxon drills and equipment fit the bill?

I don't want to (and can't really) make my own press etc. I just want to buy something that I know is going to just simply work.

In a message dated 1/31/2010 1:52:20 P.M. Central Standard Time,  
jamesrsweet@... writes:

Is  there a good low cost option or am I best off just building something  
myself?<<
James:  IF you have the adequate machine-shop, time, and $$, you can  build 
a proper little "application-specific" drill-press using Thomson linear  
bearings and case-hardened shafting (the centers can be  
tailstock-drilled/threaded!) using a ca. 100-watt 400 Hz. 3-phase "instrument  motor" if you can 
come up with the power-supply for that.  I cobbled my own  that way.  Used a 
Dremel collet canibalized from an old hand-held  Dremel.   (What [junk]!)  
The little 400 Hz motor will give you  12,000 or 24,000 RPM, depending on 
what kind you find from that surplus  dealer.
 
But this was not for a "manual" drill-press,but a little CNC rig I built  
back in PET-days.  Must convert for use with "PC" but having a lot of  
trouble finding a round tuit!
 
1/8" shank solid-carbide "PCB drill-bits" with drill-tip-diameter smaller  
than 1.5 or 2.0 mm can NEVER be used successfully (aka "happily"!) with a 
Dremel  rig!  Look at the bearings they put in those, now!  UGH!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "James" <jamesrsweet@...> wrote:
>
> So what do you guys use for drilling boards? I have a cheap drill press which is barely adequate for occasional drilling, but there's enough slop in the quill that it's extremely difficult not to snap off <1mm bits. I've had the best results using the manual mill at a friend's machine shop but it seems silly to use a 3HP spindle to turn a .85mm bit. I almost bought one of those little Dremel stands since I have a couple of the rotary tools but I've heard they are flimsy and don't work well. Is there a good low cost option or am I best off just building something myself?
>

I use one of several options depending on how many holes in what I need to do..

I used to used a home made drill press made form a couple of chunks of wood with a piano hinge, but haven't bothered to get it out of the cupboard for a long time.

Now, for just a couple of dozen holes I use a very old minicraft drill with a miniature chuck..  it must have done millions of holes up to 4mm in plastic as it was installed in a big jig as part of a bigger tool I used when I had a factory. Yhe problem is not breaking drills, even though I use 0.6mm carbide..  its repetitive strain injury...  my wrist starts to nag and I know its time to stop

For more holes, I have a micro mill, which I converted to CNC some years ago..  I mounted a proxxon IB/E onto the side of the head specifically for drilling pcbs..  It is accurate and my wrist doen't hurt..  Its not ideal though, as the mill has dovetail ways, a lot of mass and inertia, small motors and is not the fastest traversing machine..

Partly built, is a CNC drilling machine using round carbon steel ways with teflon bronze bushes and proper ballscrews.. I'm hoping this will be about 5 - 10 times faster than the micro mill..  but I'll still use the proxxon as the spindle..  it's just too good not to !

The proxxon is very good value for money..  it knocks spots off the dremels for quality..  One of the best features is the hard steel 3 jaw collets..  they are vastly superior to the aluminium 4 jaw collets on the dremel

as far as drills are concerned, I use almost exclusively reground 0.6mm solid carbide..  picked up 100 from eBay a while ago and I still have 70 left..   ( i get 100s of thousands of holes in non-fibreglass boards) For bigger holes (I need some 1mm ones here and there) I drill with the 0.6 and enlarge them manually with the minicraft drill.


You did ask  :-)

"Jim Barnes" <jim@...> writes:
> Can someone tell me more details of the problems alluded to with the
> Dremel? Can they be fixed with a little machining to tighten tolerances?

I use a dremel with 0.013" drill bits.  The runout is about 7 mil
(half the drill's width) so getting the bit to hit the right spot on
the pcb is tricky.  Despite that, I don't usually break bits drilling
- they usually die from being dropped on the floor long before that :-P

The runout seems to be just that the collet's hole isn't centered in
the shaft when it's all assembled (don't know why).  The drill bit
wiggles back and forth, even up at the 1/8" thick part.  I tried
packing more grease into the bearings, didn't help - IMHO anything
beyond that is machining.

On 01/02/2010 00:35, cvrcsoaring@... wrote:
> What size drill bits are used for most PC Drilling?

I use 0.7 mm for most through-hole parts.

Leon

There's a duty cycle on the 12V model? I didn't know that.
Doesn't get warm enough for me to notice so I suppose it'll be OK.

Probably depends a lot on the load, for example if you do some
grinding or cutting it'll draw a lot more power than just drilling
PCBs. But large mounting holes (over 3mm) start to show the limits of
the 12V drill.

ST

On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 1:12 AM, Harvey White <madyn@...> wrote:

>  I avoided the 12 volt proxxon because of the duty cycle. I
> figured that the AC model was capable of continuous operation, and I
> do a lot of drilling at one time, since I tend to do runs of different
> PC boards.
>
> Harvey
>

On Mon, 1 Feb 2010 09:32:38 +0100, you wrote:

>There's a duty cycle on the 12V model? I didn't know that.
>Doesn't get warm enough for me to notice so I suppose it'll be OK.

They didn't mention it specifically, but the implication on the larger
(and more expensive) one was that it *was* built for continuous
operation.  

It's certainly cooler than the Dremel in the same application, wasn't
a cheap Dremel, either....

I was also concerned with the relative power of the motor.  I can
drill 0.120 holes in FR4 without a problem at 20K RPM.


>
>Probably depends a lot on the load, for example if you do some
>grinding or cutting it'll draw a lot more power than just drilling
>PCBs. But large mounting holes (over 3mm) start to show the limits of
>the 12V drill.

Ah, well, I might get one of the 12 volt ones for another project, a
multi axis mill that is somewhat in production.... one of these days.

Harvey

>
>ST
>
>On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 1:12 AM, Harvey White <madyn@...> wrote:
>
>> \ufffdI avoided the 12 volt proxxon because of the duty cycle. I
>> figured that the AC model was capable of continuous operation, and I
>> do a lot of drilling at one time, since I tend to do runs of different
>> PC boards.
>>
>> Harvey
>>
>
>
>------------------------------------
>
>Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

On Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:10:32 -0800, you wrote:

>Hi,
>
> 
>
>This discussion is immediately interesting. I'm at the stage where I
>need a drill press for PCBs. Because I'm already heavily invested in the
>Dremel system, I was about to buy the Dremel drill press to use with my
>XPR tool. I looked at the Proxxon system. It's nice and may be better,
>but I do NOT need (and can't afford) yet another tool system!
>
I can understand that one.

> 
>
>Can someone tell me more details of the problems alluded to with the
>Dremel? Can they be fixed with a little machining to tighten tolerances?
>(I did that with their routing table.) Would just taking extra care be a
>workaround? Or, is Dremel a totally lost cause for PCBs?
>

The drill stand wobbles from side to side, which could be fixed.  I
never bothered because it did work.  Takes a bit of practice, but it's
ok.  The collet is pretty miserable, being made of aluminum and 4
flutes allows it to be off center.  This introduces an unpredictable
wobble (runout) in the drill.  At 20K RPM, you risk killing a carbide
drill (say in the finer than #70 range, perhaps), but the holes are
oversize.

The Proxxon uses steel collets that are 3 jaw construction, and seems
to be a lot nicer.  Whether or not the Proxxon collets fit the Dremel,
and whether or not that would fix the runout problem on the Dremel, I
don't know.

Extra care is fine, but it depends on what you're doing.

I use about a 0.030 drill for the ICs (0.025 square post, etc), and a
#70 or #71 for through hole parts leads at the finest.   When making
vias for some boards, I use about a #78 drill, or perhaps a bit finer
(#80).  There is where the runout can be a problem.

If you have the Dremel already, and use carbide bits, you will get
satisfactory operation with the Dremel.  The Proxxon is a step above,
but it's up to you to decide if you need the extra expense.  The
Dremel drill stand is certainly useful, and I don't regret buying it.

I just wanted better after a while.


Harvey

> 
>
>Jim
>
> 
>
>From: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
>[mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of James
>Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2010 11:45 AM
>To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Drilling
>
> 
>
>  
>
>So what do you guys use for drilling boards? I have a cheap drill press
>which is barely adequate for occasional drilling, but there's enough
>slop in the quill that it's extremely difficult not to snap off <1mm
>bits. I've had the best results using the manual mill at a friend's
>machine shop but it seems silly to use a 3HP spindle to turn a .85mm
>bit. I almost bought one of those little Dremel stands since I have a
>couple of the rotary tools but I've heard they are flimsy and don't work
>well. Is there a good low cost option or am I best off just building
>something myself?
>
>
>
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>------------------------------------
>
>Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

The proxxon collets have slightly larger diameter and don't fit into the dremel.

ST

On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 12:57 PM, Harvey White <madyn@embarqmail.com> wrote:
>  Whether or not the Proxxon collets fit the Dremel,
> and whether or not that would fix the runout problem on the Dremel, I
> don't know.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "James" <jamesrsweet@...> wrote:
>
> So what do you guys use for drilling boards? I have a cheap drill press which is barely adequate for occasional drilling, but there's enough slop in the quill that it's extremely difficult not to snap off <1mm bits. I've had the best results using the manual mill at a friend's machine shop but it seems silly to use a 3HP spindle to turn a .85mm bit. I almost bought one of those little Dremel stands since I have a couple of the rotary tools but I've heard they are flimsy and don't work well. Is there a good low cost option or am I best off just building something myself?
>

I have one of these small drill presses and they work good. Spindle run out is minimal and they don't cost much. There are always a few on ebay ranging from $70.00 USD to $129.00 USD. 

Check out Ebay items  250571657354   and  290394317121

I also have a Cameron MD-70 micro drill press. Made in USA and VERY nice but expensive. They occasionally show up on ebay and sell fast. 

http://www.cameronmicrodrillpress.com/presses.html

An Aetna AcroDrill is what I use most of the time. I have two of them. One with the optical scope and one with a locating stylus. I replaced the optical scope on my machine with a small TV camera and it works much better. The drill location is magnified up to 20X with the TV camera. You can actually watch the drill bit come through the board and then retract. 

I use the machine with optics to drill small runs. On larger jobs I drill a template on the machine with optics. This template is stacked with three boards and drilled on the stylus equipped machine. It drills about 60 to 100 holes per minute and almost never breaks a bit. The spindle speed is adjustable from 5000 to 45,000 rpm.

The company that made these machines closed the doors a couple of months ago so parts are no longer available but they are easy to maintain. Here are two ebay listings for this type of drilling machine:

310134897215   and    360211069073

Unless you go with CNC the machines listed above are very effective for use in a small shop.

Tom

I use the Dremel stand, but previously I cared to shim the (vertical) guides tight enough to remove the floppiness.
works very well, no danger of breaking bits.
 

--- On Sun, 1/31/10, Jim Barnes <jim@...> wrote:

> 
> Can someone tell me more details of the problems alluded to
> with the
> Dremel? Can they be fixed with a little machining to
> tighten tolerances?
> (I did that with their routing table.) Would just taking
> extra care be a
> workaround? Or, is Dremel a totally lost cause for PCBs?
>

Hi,

 

If the Dremel's problem is mainly the collet, you might try the Dremel
Chuck. It's a steel (according to my magnet), three-jaw, keyless chuck.
Though spec'd down to only 1/32" (31 mil), it holds 28 mil bits tightly;
I don't have anything smaller to try. I haven't drilled a PC board with
it yet, but I've used it successfully for tiny holes in other projects.

 

Jim

From: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Harvey White
Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 4:00 AM
To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Drilling

 

  

=============== <snip> ===================> 
>
>Can someone tell me more details of the problems alluded to with the
>Dremel? Can they be fixed with a little machining to tighten
tolerances?
>(I did that with their routing table.) Would just taking extra care be
a
>workaround? Or, is Dremel a totally lost cause for PCBs?
>

The drill stand wobbles from side to side, which could be fixed. I
never bothered because it did work. Takes a bit of practice, but it's
ok. The collet is pretty miserable, being made of aluminum and 4
flutes allows it to be off center. This introduces an unpredictable
wobble (runout) in the drill. At 20K RPM, you risk killing a carbide
drill (say in the finer than #70 range, perhaps), but the holes are
oversize.

================< snip >=====================

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