Homebrew PCBs

Yeah!  I wanted to add that aviation shears are meant to cut heavy sheet
metal.  2oz copper and a bit of fiberglass should be no problem!

Benjamin Blumer


Sent from my iPad

On 2011-11-17, at 4:51 PM, Roland Harriston <rolohar@...> wrote:



I have been using aviation shears for a number of years.

They are made by Wiss, which is a well-known maker
of cutting tools. They are large, about 10 inches overall
with jaws that are about 3 inches. The long handles
provide good leverage for cutting thick material.
I have no problems cutting .0625 double-sided PC
2 oz. copper board stock.

Aviation shears come in two configurations
for straight cuts and circular cuts. I have the ones
that are designed to make straight cuts.

Cutting epoxy-glass material has not dulled the
cutting edges over the years.

Roland F. Harriston, P.D.
*******************

DaveC wrote:
>
>
> This stuff is TOUGH! I scored with a utility knife, through the
> copper and well into the fiberglass. When I bent it over the edge of
> a table, it bowed a lot before finally breaking.
>
> If you know of anybody in the printing business (offset presses and
> such) or at a copy shop, some of these places have big guillotine
> paper cutters. I have access to such a shop and worked it out with
> the operator that when it comes time to change the knife blade (over
> time it gets nicked and leaves rough edges in the stacks of paper) I
> get to cut a few boards. The cutters have a minimum cut size (usually
> the size of a business card), but generally can do a good job. It
> takes 2 or 3 tries (sometimes it helps to flip the board over) but
> the cuts are clean.
>
> Be careful of the glass fibers that are thrown around when breaking a
> board. It gets into your skin and itches a lot. Be sure you're not
> doing this on the kitchen table or next to the bed (!) (for those of
> us in small apartments, or such...)
>
> Cheers,
> Dave
>
> -=-=-=-
>
> >One hack is to score it with a utility knife. Go over both front and back
> >several times with a great deal of pressure. Then lay the score line over
> >the edge of a table and bend it. It's not nice, but it does work.
> >
> >Although, for 15 bucks, you can buy some nice aviation snips that'll
> do the
> >job in a quarter of the time with a tiny fraction of the effort.
> >
> >Sent from my iPad
> >
> >On 2011-11-16, at 5:36 PM, alan00463 <alan00463@yahoo.com
> <mailto:alan00463%40yahoo.com>> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >I have no shear. I have no vise. What can I use to cut PCB material? I'll
> >start with 6" X 12" X 0.062" SINGLE SIDED PC BOARD.
> >Is there a hack for cutting straight lines on this material
> >without buying a shear?
>
>

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