It occurs to me that you could make it even easier with the Dremel in a rigid mounting at say 45 degrees from vertical. It would need a height adjuster so you can set the burr at e.g. 1.4mm for 1.6mm FR4, and a repeatable lift/drop mechanism.
Then you could slide the FR4 under the burr, holding it on four corners to get more control. If would be easy to get straight lines this way.
For bonus points, operate the lift/drop from a foot pedal.
Your filter entry expired today. I think another 6 months at least is needed, though.
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I carve by hand, and I get straight lines.
So what? You yourself said that it takes a lot of practice. My device would allow anyone to do the same.
Anyone already can. Ugly boards will work, and the appearance improves with practice. Try it.
A Dremel fits nicely on a shelf near my workbench. That rig would occupy the entire bench.
Hand carving these boards is skill and art.
I have a Dremel press for drilling holes. It would only need to be that size, but hold the Dremel at an angle.
It is. I grew up with my Dad's old dental drill in my hand, so I have some skill too. Not everyone does.
For the 4" circular saw cuts to cut the PCB to size, I use a mini table saw with 4" diamond (?) blade from Harbor Freight. I made a sled that slides on the saw, holds the PC board and keeps everything square. Table saw:
saw blade:
Ed
That's the ultimate. Ready-to-go with the flip of a switch. Although it's perfect for your setup, it's footprint is too big for my own frugal floor-space budget. One of my former clients fabricates the steering mechanism for NASCAR racers. Those mechanisms are so specialized that only a couple of companies make them. Among other things, the steering wheel must be quick-release to allow the driver a hasty escape after a crash. The guy who makes them has literally acres of machines pounding and cutting away under one roof. Yet, you get the feeling that he always needs at least one more machine to make his life complete. LOL. In the end, the careful hand carving advocated by John and Clifford is my only option. Even attaching a small circular guide disk to the hilt of my Dremel hand-piece is an awkward pipe dream. Your table saw solution's still superior for those with the available floor-space.
73,
That's the ultimate. Ready-to-go with the flip of a switch. Although it's perfect for your setup, it's footprint is too big for my own frugal floor-space budget. One of my former clients fabricates the steering mechanism for NASCAR racers. Those mechanisms are so specialized that only a couple of companies make them. Among other things, the steering wheel must be quick-release to allow the driver a hasty escape after a crash. The guy who makes them has literally acres of machines pounding and cutting away under one roof. Yet, you get the feeling that he always needs at least one more machine to make his life complete. LOL. In the end, the careful hand carving advocated by John and Clifford is my only option. Even attaching a small circular guide disk to the hilt of my Dremel hand-piece is an awkward pipe dream. But a straight edge to guide my cutting hand may work under certain circumstances. Your table saw solution's still superior for those with the available floor-space.
73,
Draw a line on FR4 with a sharpie, cut with a hacksaw, sand the edge smooth.
Some people even use a big pair of tin snips to cut FR4. LOL. There's a subtext problem with my thread. The Dremel hand-piece is used with FR4 /and/ sheet metal up to about 5 mils thick. My 4" circular saw is only used for sheet metal. My last Dremel sheet metal fabrication involved cutting out a keystone hole in a half-height server bracket for a RJ-45 modular coupler. The coupler connects a my proprietary Base Management Controller (BMC) inside the server to a LAN. Now, you might think that Greenlee ought to offer an RJ-45 knockout. They offer DB-9 and DB-15 knockouts. Unfortunately, there's no RJ-45 knockout known to me.
73,
Some people even use a big pair of tin snips to cut FR4. LOL. There's a subtext problem with my thread. The Dremel hand-piece is used with FR4 /and/ sheet metal up to about 5 mils thick. My 4" circular saw is only used for sheet metal. My last Dremel sheet metal fabrication involved cutting out a keystone hole in a half-height server bracket for a RJ-45 modular coupler. The coupler connects my proprietary Base Management Controller (BMC) inside the server to a LAN. Now, you might think that Greenlee ought to offer an RJ-45 knockout. They offer DB-9 and DB-15 knockouts. Unfortunately, there's no RJ-45 knockout known to me.
73,
That's what I use. It's actually a nice pair of Wiss serrated aviation shears that I've been cutting circuit board with for 20 years.
Mostly I'm cutting boards to fit inside the lid of a die-cast aluminum box, held in by BNC bulkhead connectors. Works great, super fast, very durable. You do a rough cut then trim, and the edges come out very nicely.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
The RJ-45 connector was not originally made to be directly panel mounted. There's usually some manner of plastic or metal adapter to provide a panel mount. Photos of various types: Most use either a circular or rectangular hole, for which a chassis or Rotex turret punch should be available.
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