[sdiy] PCB cutting tool?

[synth at oldmail.charlielamm.com]

I went through this whole thing too during my stomp box phase.

The winner, for me, and I tried a lot of different methods, was to score
the PCB with a sharp carpet cutting knife and then break it in a vice.  
I scored both sides (you could see the scoring on the opposite side when
you flipped the PCB over due to the slightly transparent nature of the PCB
material I was using).  I used a large straight edge to guide the whole 
process.  

I did this _after_ pressing and peeling. (Question: Does pressing and
peeling sound a bit like post-prom-dance to anyone other than me?)  If I
did it before the edges of the PnP wouldn't take because I couldn't get
the edges and sides smooth enough for a good transfer.

Some warnings (about the cutting part, not the prom-dance part):

--You can cut the @##% out of yourself if you're not careful.

--The PCB dust and crumbs that the process makes are acidic, poison,
nasty, and god only knows what else. They don't look like much but hurt if
you get them on your hands, and probably do extreme harm if you swallow or
breathe them. I ended up running a shop vac right by the scoring and
breaking process to get these buggers as they were created, and I wore
gloves and a mask the whole time. Learned this the hard way.

--The result wasn't as neat as some other methods but worked.  If you need
this to look like something AP Circuits could make for you you should try
something other than this.

--The usual wife-will-throw-you-out-if-you-make-a-mess sort of warnings
are in effect.  Yes, this does make a hell of a mess and yes, you may get
thrown out for it.

Good luck and watch your fingers!

--CL





On Sun, 2 May 2004, prototek wrote:

>     I'm throwing together a little stompbox and I'll probably end up using
> some cheap Radio Shack PCB for it. I'll probably have to cut it down to
> size. Is there a preferred tool for this? What about methods? Do I just cut
> it up? I'm just worried about cracking the whole thing.
> 
>             cheers,
>             John
>