Homebrew PCBs

On Sat, 05 Nov 2005 11:48:23 +0100, jos_28122002  
<jos_28122002@...> wrote:

> Piano hinge - EXCELLENT idea, ST.
> I bought a ready drill stand, but the damn thing has awfull
> sideways movement when you lower the drill to make a hole.
> Making one of these items should solve that issue.
> Thanks for that pic. Looks very practical.
> But how do you raise/lower the drill to make the holes?
> John


With my left hand.
The drill is balanced with a counterweight not on the picture.

Usually i lift it with the back of my hand, using the fingers to aid in  
positioning the board, much easier with two hands.
Gravity pulls the drill down. Also i use a wood block under the PCB,  
simply because i found the flat PCB hard to position.


Another hint, if you break drills not quite down to the taper but with a  
little section of the narrow part remaining those are great keepers for  
holes where you can't hold the board steady properly. Say for a forgotten  
hole you notice after populating or widening holes. If they are short  
enough they won't break even if you hold the board freehand. You needn't  
grind them, any break will still cut enough.

ST