Homebrew_PCBs

Has anybody ever cut, or tried to cut, a PCB
in the form of a circle? If so, how?

At 20:36 04.03.2007, you wrote:

>Has anybody ever cut, or tried to cut, a PCB
>in the form of a circle? If so, how?

I can do that on my CNC milling machine.
Cristian

In a message dated 3/4/2007 12:38:27 P.M. Central Standard Time,
alan00463@... writes:

Has anybody ever cut, or tried to cut, a PCB in the form of a circle? If so,
how?<<
Use a plywood fixture on a bandsaw. Or, if you are very skilled, make a
fixture for your router, using a CARBIDE-edged bit!

Or, if you are a lathe operator, first draw the circle with a Sharpie pen on
a sheet of FR-4 (or whatever), then manually bandsaw "outside" of the marked
circle (leaving 1.5-3 mm waste). Then fasten the "blank" to a
plywood-covered face-plate on the lathe with double-stick tape, and fasten a disk of
plywood about the dia. of your finished PCB circle over the blank, holding it in
place with a live center in the tail-stock, cranked up nice and hard. Then,
TURN the disk to final dim (and sand it!), being VERY careful. Don't breathe
that nasty glass/epoxy dust! Jan Rowland



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--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "alan00463" <alan00463@...> wrote:

>
> Has anybody ever cut, or tried to cut, a PCB
> in the form of a circle? If so, how?
>

That was one of the main reasons for me converting an X1 micro mill to
CNC.

I have a proxxon clamped to the head so I can drill the boards and
then cut the outside shape without any intervention.

Before the CNC Mill, and depending on size.. I either used hole-saws
mounted in a pillar drill, cut them by hand on a hegner saw then disc
sanded them, or clamped them between an MDF faceplate and a rubber
block on the lathe and turned them.

Trust me.. if you do more than a few, CNC is the way to go.. and you
can cut any shape you like !

Chris

On Mon, 05 Mar 2007 06:48:10 +0100, <JanRwl@...> wrote:

>
> Use a plywood fixture on a bandsaw. Or, if you are very skilled, make a
> fixture for your router, using a CARBIDE-edged bit!
> Or, if you are a lathe operator, first draw the circle with a Sharpie
> pen on
> a sheet of FR-4 (or whatever), then manually bandsaw "outside" of the
> marked
> circle (leaving 1.5-3 mm waste). Then fasten the "blank" to a
> plywood-covered face-plate on the lathe with double-stick tape, and
> fasten a disk of
> plywood about the dia. of your finished PCB circle over the blank,
> holding it in
> place with a live center in the tail-stock, cranked up nice and hard.
> Then,
> TURN the disk to final dim (and sand it!), being VERY careful. Don't
> breathe
> that nasty glass/epoxy dust! Jan Rowland

If not many need to be done i suppose approximating the shape with any
type of shear or saw will do, followed by sanding to the final dimensions.
Dont breathe the dust.

ST