Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

Thanks for all the replies!

Yes, I am actually using a drill press (a smaller Delta). I can't
imagine doing some of these boards by hand. I usually have a solid
backer board to keep the exit side clean too. I'm also thinking of
sticking a pulley and cord on the ceiling and hooking it to a bass
drum pedal or something to lower the quill, so I can use both hands.
The drive belt usually stays on the lowest speed.

The dental burr recommendation originally came from some usenet or
website discussions about longer lasting bits for PCB work. The Dremel
burr made decent cuts while it lasted, but from what you guys have
said, I probably just got lucky on the style of cutting edge they used
or something.

If anyone knows an eBay dealer,etc. who normally sells the large
quantity of one size (like Stefan mentioned), I'll probably be
shopping. I've looked before, but I didn't really know the standard
size (for resistor type holes) and most of the deals were for
assortments. I've got two decent sized cases of the "#" valued bits in
just about every size under 1/4", but I've eaten up the first few
small ones in both sets. I should be fine for all the regulator type
sizes up.

BTW- Some other info also recommended HSS against carbide stating that
the carbide was brittle enough to snap frequently on PCB's. They said
to go with a quantity of regulars and just replace them every so
often. Going by info here, I guess carbide is a decent choice
afterall. I'll still probably want a lot either way.

Let me know if there's any shopping pointers.

-Thanks!