[sdiy] Cutting PCBs

[Jason Tribbeck]

Hi,

> I am finally getting around to building my AVR-X synth 
> (www.avrx.se), but the PCB they sent me that needs to be 
> broken into two has no break-away tabs or anything on it.  I 
> need to saw this thing in half but I have very little margin 
> of error.  Any suggestions?  A jigsaw (skillsaw) seems too rough.
> A hack saw does not seem very accurate.  I do have a dremmel, 
> but that seems like it could take forever.
> 
> I wanted to discuss this on the AVR-X forum, but I have not 
> gotten accepted yet.  I think everyone is Europe is on 
> holiday right now.. :)

I had to make some fairly small PCBs the other day, and I used a Stanley
knife, scored it a few times with a metal ruler (changing the angle of
the blade to the board), and then snapped it using a sheet metal folder
(although a vice and a hammer/lot of pressure would've also worked).

I then sanded down the edges with an angle grinder (but I'd been
deliberately overly generous in my gaps between the boards though).
--
Jason Tribbeck