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Thread

Drill sizes for Dremel

2005-10-29 by matt clement

I use a Dremel to do my drilling by hand. What does everyone use for
bits? i found a nice Dremel brand engraver bit that drills fairly
small holes well, but not as small as my vias.

Also are you drilling before etching, after etching? Do you etch the
hole in the pads to guide the drill bit or not? I seem to rip alot of
pads off during the drilling itself on both sides >< .

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Drill sizes for Dremel

2005-10-30 by Stefan Trethan

On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 05:45:56 +0200, matt clement <buckeyes1997@...>
wrote:

>
> Also are you drilling before etching, after etching? Do you etch the
> hole in the pads to guide the drill bit or not? I seem to rip alot of
> pads off during the drilling itself on both sides >< .

Your pads are too small. They are probably sized for throughhole plated
boards, where the plating "rivets" them together. For homerew boards you
need large pads. Make them oblong on stuff with tight spacing (i use
1.6mx4mm for DIL ICs.). Now they will not rip off any more, and actually
support a component as well.

I drill after etching, the drilling seems to rip off small pieces of toner
around the hole. If you can drill before transfer (of any kind), like with
a CNC, this is not an issue as the resist is put on after the hole is
complete (that's what pro shops do).

I etch out the hole in the center, but smaller than the real thing (my
software has a checkbox "guide holes only" when printing.

As for size, i use 0.8mm for most, also some 0.6 and 1.0 and 1.2 and 1.5mm.

ST

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Drill sizes for Dremel

2005-10-30 by Leon Heller

----- Original Message -----
From: "matt clement" <buckeyes1997@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 3:45 AM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Drill sizes for Dremel

>I use a Dremel to do my drilling by hand. What does everyone use for
> bits? i found a nice Dremel brand engraver bit that drills fairly
> small holes well, but not as small as my vias.
>
> Also are you drilling before etching, after etching? Do you etch the
> hole in the pads to guide the drill bit or not? I seem to rip alot of
> pads off during the drilling itself on both sides >< .

I drill after etching (boards are resist-coated) and have holes in the pads.
I use 0.8 mm tungsten carbide drills and the highest possible drill speed
(Minicraft drill and stand).

Leon
--
Leon Heller, G1HSM
leon.heller@...
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller

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Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Drill sizes for Dremel

2005-10-30 by Alan King

matt clement wrote:

>I use a Dremel to do my drilling by hand. What does everyone use for
>bits? i found a nice Dremel brand engraver bit that drills fairly
>small holes well, but not as small as my vias.
>
>
>

Leave a little space to one side of your vias, and you can just drill the board beside them and bend the wire over on them, after etching. I rarely drill a hole on the pad for hand made vias etc, into the bare board works just as well. Nothing says it has to be into the pad, as long as you make the connection..

Alan