Separating tab-routed PCBs by hand?

A cheap guillotine style paper cutter may be efective for you. You'll have to try it to determine that. Staples sells them, starting around $30.00

Ed

A Nibbler does exactly what the name says...it nibbles itsy bitsy, teeny sized pieces, and would take forever to separate your boards. The paper guillotine should work very well, as I have used it for the same purpose, with good results. Just be prepared to sharpen the blades on a fairly regular basis.

I use a Farnells 'pcb shears' guilotine. Its great, sturdy and long lasting. part: 3205034 uk.farnells.com

I dont know about shipping all the way there, its quite heavy.

Maybe if it's all-SMT and the parts are only on one side (and there is enough clearance), but otherwise I think a guillotine is going to make a mess of a stuffed board.

Here are a few solutions from a US supplier, but obviously it's better to consider this stuff before the PCB is designed and ordered. Maybe V-grooves would have been better, for example, alone or combined with the tab routing.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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snipped-for-privacy@reefnet.ca wrote: ... > 1000 assembled, panelized PCBs -- tab separated ... > not depanelized ... > can't afford a pneumatic tab cutter and are looking

I think a "guillotine style paper cutter" as suggested by some others would bend the boards enough to break some components loose.

The product you mention is more expensive than either of the following $30 items:

Probably either of these would last through 1000 boards, although you might have to replace the cutter more than once due to abrasion from fiberglass, and would have to borrow or buy a big air compressor for the first one. The more-expensive ($100) has carbide dies so might not need cutter replacements.

How closely spaced are your boards? The above probably take out a kerf of at least 5mm. If the boards are close together but the cuts are straight, a $180 bandsaw like

would do the job without stressing the boards much, particularly if you put them on a carrier to support them while you are sawing.

-jiw

Ouch. The starting price is $3k for the low-end - a pair of pointy wheels on a manual rig that creases the v-groove. But a good pointer nonetheless.

One should be able to approximate their router table rig with a standard router in a table, though finding 0.1" bits in carbide would be a challenge.

The cheapest option is probably to import the hand nibbler from the UK and use a grinding wheel to clean up the cut.

Richard

Pricey.

I got a couple of 0.0938" ones and a 0.125" solid carbide ones in an assortment for some low price.

I like belt sanders for that sort of thing. Quieter, less vibration and a heck of a lot less scary. An 8" grinding wheel can do some major damage if the stone flies apart. Stand out of the line of fire and use goggles or a face shield if you must.

I've got a similar air nibbler-- the tip is about 15mm diameter (well over 1/2"), so you'd need half that much clear on either side (horizontally) of the center of the cut. They also spray large amounts of swarf. The kerf looks to be around 3/16", if you can convince it to go in a straight line (difficult freehand).

Or maybe a ~USD $165 10" table saw with a $50 fine (100 tooth) carbide blade.

a pic or diagram of the PCB and the tabs would help,

how about a pair of offset aviation snips. might need regular sharpening if used on fibreglass (most things will), but should work really well on phenolic.

the offset snips have the bladed offsset so you can cut straight edges without bending the stock - a bit like a hand-held guillotine, prolly about $20-30US at a tool shop.

Bye. Jasen

Hmmm. Perhaps this could be done with a Dremel type tool. It is easy to get small carbide bits for them.

--
JosephKK
Gegen dummheit kampfen Die Gotter Selbst, vergebens.  
--Shiller

There's a little 'routing table' attachment for the genuine Dremels. Forget about doing it freehand.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it\'s the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

Spehro Pefhany skrev:

around here a tablesaw for cutting tiles is often on sale for something like ~50$ it comes with a "diamond" cutting disc that is 3mm wide but you can get some that are only 1mm.

-Lasse

Well, I can't say for the tab routing, but I just got in a batch of 0.5" tall PCBs in panels with v-grooves (both sides). They can be separated pretty easily by hand with no flex to the board. Placing a rod under the kerf on a table makes the initial break across a 5" wide board pretty easy.

A dedicated separator tool might be helpful if you were doing thousands of pieces a day, but not for a few hundred (unless they are so small you can't get a grip on them).

On the other hand, I also tried the string-of-drill-hits method with

0.020" bits and 0.020" spacing. That was many times harder to break and left a nasty jagged edge. Not what I'd consider a good option.

Cheers, Richard