Homebrew PCBs

Last year, I bought dremel's new model 220 workstation (drill press with a
few added features)... the previous drill press attachment was discontinued
for several months before the workstation came out, I heard something about
them beginning to make it themselves, instead of some other supplier, but I
am not sure.  Anyway, I bought it as soon as it came out, and when I
received it I was rather let down.  It was made mostly of plastic, and the
mechanism was too sloppy for PCB drilling; it broke my carbide bits very
often.

http://www2.gpmd.com/image/d/drer0220.jpg
(this is an image of the problematic model 220 I first bought)

Dremel was gracious enough to offer me the choice of a refund, or the
opportunity to be a product tester when the revised product was available.
Well, I finally recieved one of the new ones.  I tried it out, and it did a
very good job.  It has a rack-and-pinion type drive, a drastic improvement
over the previous setup, and the track on which it rides up and down is much
more rigid.  I tested it out on the smallest drill bits I have (.026 inch
diameter carbide) and I could see or feel no visible signs of side loading
on the drill bit; several dozen holes and the bit was unharmed, and by the
impression I get, I expect I will break bits more often by my own
carelessness than by any fault of the drill press, which is all I can really
ask anyway.  The mechanism is also very smooth; combined with the rather
long lever, it's very easy and comfortable to use.

All in all, I would say that if you are looking for a decent small,
rotary-tool-based drill press for PCB use (especially if you're a dremel
fan), I would highly recommend this.

The new model 220 is not available for purchase yet, but I think it will be
sometime early this year.  The old one is still being sold online at several
places; however, the new one can be easily distinguished from the old one;
the plastic part to which the dremel tool is attached is black on the new
one, blue on the old one... and on the new one, a metal rod protrudes from
the top behind the dremel.  The old one retails for about $45-50 at online
stores, and I don't imagine the new one will be much different.

-Evan


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