Homebrew PCBs

On Fri, 30 Mar 2012 03:17:30 -0000, you wrote:

>I've been reviewing options for PCB cutting and my options are limited by the fact that I live in an apartment with no garage, so power tools are out of the question.

At least, hand power tools are ok.  You can get a small tile wet saw,
desktop, from places like Harbor Freight.
>
>I've looked into guillotines and brakes, hacksaws (fiberglass dust sucks), score and snap, and any other option i can think of but I can't really decide.  Has anyone had any kind of real success with any of these?
>
Yes, metal brake.  I have a 30 inch metal brake, the 3 in one setup.
It is quite heavy, I have good success with trimming PC board, some
plastics, sheet metal (as long as not too thick).

However, I don't recommend that particular model to you because of
size and weight.  It took a shop crane to put it on its braced table
(now on wheels).  You can get a smaller metal shear that will handle 8
or 10 inch wide board stock.  Your (perhaps best) bet would be to
pre-cut things to the point where you can use the shear.

Score and snap works for me only when I see (and use, and I mostly
don't) the paper based laminates.  

You may wish to try a tile wet saw, although I haven't used one, it
does show promise.  The advantage of the shear is that I can cut raw
stock, and also trim the final board.  A bit of sanding (minimal!)
with fine sandpaper will smooth the board edges.

Harvey


>Hacksaw would obviously be the choice of inexpensive and easy but I'll be damned if I can cut a straight line.  I always have to go back over with a file to clean the edges.  Score and snap took forever.  I've seen videos of people using 6 or 8" inch sheet metal brakes but never got any feedback when I sent them PMs regarding blade life.