What would some of you guys reccomend to drill PCBs. I have read many posts about drill stands that are pretty cheap. Do they usually come with a drill or would I have to buy one separately? Would some type of dremel or rotary tool suit this purpose better? I will not be mass producing circuit boards or anything of that magnitude. It will be used for small hobbyist projects that I am working on. I would like to buy it at a Lowe's or Home Depot home improvement store if possible, rather than on the internet.

 

I use a $39 Harbor Freight five speed drill press with an Enco small bit arbor and 1/32 HHS drill bits--no carbide. There is some runout so I leave the holes in the traces. The bit centers on the holes. This is a cheap, effective hobby approach.

 

In Eagle there is a script called drill-aid that reduces the hole in the center of pads and vias. It helps center the drill bit (hold the board loose so the drill bit can move it) and gives you a bit of extra copper in case you are off just a bit.

HF has two small drill presses. I have the #38119. From reading here you would think it runs to slow and has too much run-out to use with carbide bits but it does.

The carbide bits have 1/8 shafts which makes them easy to chuck. The chuck on this unit is fairly good. Try it prior to spending money on a better chuck.

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You should REALLY search the forums for this. I know that this has been discussed a bunch of times, because I've participated in a lot of the discussions... If you read what's already there, people can spend time addressing your particular questions, instead of repeating what's already been covered several times...

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If you make your own boards, then it's likely you be doing more then one. I think it something you will need to figure out on your own. A drill press is a very good investment, even if you only do a few projects a year, and can be used for other things. I, like most people made do with what we had on hand. A regular drill or dremel will get the job done, but its kind of slow going, break a lot of bits.
When I started using more ICs, and more recently microcontrollers, need to do more precise drilling, and had more holes per board. I bought an 8" benchtop from Big Lots around $40. It's fast enough for carbide bits, much quieter, less vibration. Wish I'd done it years ago. Do maybe 1-3 boards a month, not high volume, and still using the same bit about 3 months now...

 

I just bought item 38119 from Harbour Freight. I'm glad I didn't order it from their website. I got it for $39.99 in the store because it was on sale (Reg. price: $69.99, 43% off).

 

I use a Dremel 395 and the proper Dremel stand - the stand is pretty crap but the Dremmel tool itself is great for drilling PCBs

 

How do you guys fit 1/32" bits in the chuck? Is there some special thing I can buy to make these small bits fit in the chuck?

 

I use carbide bits for the small holes. They have 1/8 inch shanks and neck down to whatever size the hole is.

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I bought a set of pin chucks. They easy to insert the small drills into and it is very easy to insert the pin chuck into the drill chuck. (I use the drill stand that I use for wood and metal work)

Another advantage of the pin chucks is that you can use them for hand drilling. Just rotate the pin chuck between your fingers. It takes a minute or two to drill a hole, but for only one hole it may not be worth setting up the electric drill.

They are also good if you want to make an existing hole larger by hand. This is quicker than drilling a hole from scratch since most of the hole is already drilled.

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Where did you find your pin chucks ?

I have been using a xacto knife clone.
If you pry the cross open a bit you can get small bits in and use it as a hand drill.

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Hobby shops often have a good selection of pin vise and X-acto brand handles. Even Michaels , the craft stores often have them.

 

ljcox mentioned pin chucks. If I said pin vice it was a goof on my part. I was thinking mail/internet order. The nearest Michaels is over 100 miles away. After I shop for a few hours I am too tired to care about pin chucks or anything else hobby related.

I do not need them all that bad. Maybe just a bit of tool lust. If you use the carbide bits with 1/8 shanks you do not need them.

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Pin vice / pin chuck, they're the same device. I've always heard them called pin vice's myself.

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As I know it.
A pin vice is a handle that can take a drill bit but is used by hand.
A pin chuck is a chuck that you use with a drill or drill press.
Could be that a pin vise is a type of pin chuck.
The first pic is a pin vice.
I think ljcox was talking about chucking the sort of thing found in the second pic into his drill.
That is what I was asking about.

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