Printed Circuit Board

[ohiolyons]

Hi all,

Has anyone tried cutting/drilling a printed circuit board yet? Even removing the excess copper that would normally be removed chemically?

If so could you say what type of bits worked best? What were the cutting parameters, feed and speed info?

John

[Tim Owens]

Depends on how small you are trying to go.
I have used titanium dentist drill bits. They have 1/8 shanks so you will need to get a colette.
I have gotten them locally at harbor freight but I have only needed to do a couple of boards.
I snapped some of the smaller ones so there is some trial and error here.

[ohiolyons]

Thanks Tim

I thought it should be able to do it. I guess I HAVE to go to Harbor Freight now!!

What about the speeds? Since most PC boards are fiberglass I assume slower speeds will work better on brittle materials.

John

[spinningwood]

John - I've been pretty happy with PreciseBits as a tool supplier. I don't work on circuit boards, but I noticed they sell tools for that kind of work. Here's a link:

http://precisebits.com/applications/pcbtools.htm

They've been pretty helpful when I've talked to them in the past. You might give them a call and see if they can answer your questions. Maybe they have what you need.

Ed

Who generally finds stuff from harbor freight is worth about what you pay for it.