Homebrew PCBs

Dwayne Reid wrote:

>At 01:17 PM 4/21/02 +1000, Adam Seychell wrote:
>
>>Oh, I wouldn't use a table saw bench designed for woodwork. The circular
>>blade is a way bit fast. My variable speed jigsaw does it well, but make sure
>>you use carbide tooth blades. Standard steel blades in a jigsaw become blunt
>>after about 30 cm of cut. Hacksaw blades are also short lived.
>>
>
>Gosh - I've been using a radial arm saw to cut FR4 PCB material for at 
>least 20 years.  The blades are 10" carbide with 60 or more teeth.  Nice 
>clean cuts so long as the blade is sharp - which is quite some time.  I 
>don't have hour figures at hand but I have half a dozen blades (all used 
>for different purposes) that I get sharpened about once a year.
>
>The bi-metal blades for my Bosch jigsaw work OK as well and seem to be 
>fairly long lived.
>
>I currently use the saws to cut 3' x 4' panels down to the size my 30" 
>shear can handle.  Before we had a shear, we used the radial arm saw to do 
>all the cutting.  Although the radial arm saw is noisy and dangerous, it 
>had NO problem cutting all the PC material we threw (and throw) at it.  A 
>table saw with a nice, sharp carbide tooth blade and a fence that is 
>accurately aligned should work just as well.
>
>dwayne
>


Hi, dwayne

Well, if your experience shows there is no problem with table saws, then 
I should give it a try myself. The 60 tooth blade in my saw bench 
(Triton 2000) cost a me bit so I was weary about using it on "FR4" 
material knowing how abrasive this stuff can be.