Homebrew PCBs

On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 14:18:05 +0200, lcdpublishing  
<lcdpublishing@...> wrote:

> Thanks for all the suggestions guys!
> Tape is something I have used on my big CNC wood router and it has
> worked very good there.  While I do have vacuum clamping on it,
> sometimes you can use a vacuum (too many holes etc.). I have found
> that carpet tape (double sided) works really good and I have also used
> regular masking tape along the edges.
> Could it be that plain ole tape is the elegant solution I am seeking ;-
> )
> Thanks again!
> Chris


Tape is great for trying something, but if you are going to do many a  
clamp is more convenient.

For the PCB printer i had to make a very low in height clamping mechanism  
so it will fit under the head.
Also, it had to allow any size PCB.

Luckily the clamping requirements are not high, and it is sufficient to  
hold the PCB from the sides (although it would be easily possible to add a  
bit of thin material tricking over the edge so it prevents the PCB from  
lifting).

Anyway, i just used glued a strip of PCB along the front edge, and a  
second wider strip had a slot cut along the center but not all the way to  
the ends. This slot is used to screw the strip down with a screw with a  
very flat head, just enough so i can just slide the strip with some good  
resistance. The thing is used by simply dropping in the PCB against the  
front guide, and then sliding the other srtip against the other edge of  
the PCB.
Works very well, and is a whole lot more convenient than the tape i  
previously used.


You may be able to use a similar setup using steel strips slightly thicker  
than the PCB and grinding the edge so it slopes backwards and securely  
holds the PCB in place and down at the same time.

ST