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

fwiw, I use a shear.

I have a Pexto 37" kick-shear, but I only use that
when I'm making panels out of full 36x48" sheets.

I picked up one of those old Kepro aluminum-body
12" tabletop shears a few years back, for a couple
hundred bucks. This is what I use 95% of the time;
for all small work. It's really a sweet tool to have
around.

If you ever see one in decent shape for, say, $100,
snap that puppy up. You will NOT be sorry...even
if it eats 3-4 months of your beer-money... <g>

I have done some field-hacking of PCB material
with a 4.5" angle-grinder and one of those thin
cut-off blades. Slices right through it. Takes a
steady hand tho... <ggg>

If size is small enough, and clean cuts are desired,
and I didn't own many tools; my preferred hand-tool
would be a hacksaw. Vise the board with a protective
layer on the resist-side, and hacksaw it.

If you have material to spare, and a decent guide
setup, the cleanest nicest cut is a router with a
carbide cutter. All commercial boards, with those
beautiful edges, are routed out on their CNC-drilling
machine.

PS; I have also cut a lot of small boards out over
the years with nothing but a pair of aviation-snips.

Works fine...can warp the board a bit....but some
hand-twisting straightens it out. Anyway, that's one
cheap hand-tool method that works well and leaves
a pretty straight and clean edge...doesn't make dust;
and is also very quick.

hope this helps...

Richard
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