...Drilling with WC: What's the best tool ?

[Valence_4]

Hi...

I want to drill holes in PCB's for through hole components and until now, i am using a high speed steel drill bit. This bit dulls rapidly and bores awful holes.

I have bought a pack of Tungsten Carbide bits and while they cut much better, they are MUCH more brittle and i have broken two just because my Dremel tool is not perfectly centered. What kind of tool do you suggest me for drilling with carbide bits ? All my carbide bits have 3.15 mm (0.124 (1/8) inch) shanks.

Thanks !

 

[3v0]

There has been a thread or two about drilling PCBs.

The Dremel should be used with a stand that converts it into a drill press.
Many people use these. If your tool is so off center that it breaks bits I would call dremmel about it.

A few of us use table top drill presses. Mine is a harbor freight.

I use Eagle layout and a script called PCB-GCODE that generates gcode for a cnc mill to drill holes under computer control.

A pin vise with a HSS drill works but is slow. Only a real option with a very
small board or one that is mostly SMD.

If you use Eagle run a ULP called DRILL-AID to fill in the center of all drilled holes leaving just enough to start the drill in. This aids in centering when using a pin vice or hand guided power drill such as a drill press.

3v0

Hi...

I want to drill holes in PCB's for through hole components and until now, i am using a high speed steel drill bit. This bit dulls rapidly and bores awful holes.

I have bought a pack of Tungsten Carbide bits and while they cut much better, they are MUCH more brittle and i have broken two just because my Dremel tool is not perfectly centered. What kind of tool do you suggest me for drilling with carbide bits ? All my carbide bits have 3.15 mm (0.124 (1/8) inch) shanks.

Thanks !

 

[picbits]

I use a Demel and a Demel stand and have drilled thousands of holes without breaking bits.

The only bits I've broken are the ones where I've either dropped them, left them in the Dremel and knocked them or one time when I was drilling a double sided board and had some tissue under the board to stop it getting scratched, it got pulled up into the bit and snapped it.

The Dremel stands are a bit crap. They have a lot of play in them but band a big old spring on it to pre-tension the slack and they are perfectly usable.

 

[Valence_4]

Thanks a lot! Many people told me about the Dremel stand but the slack in it reulsed me. I like the idea of pretensioning the stand to eliminate the slack. I'll also buy a new collet to get sure i will get the best centering possible !

And yep 3v0, i use Eagle layout. I like it a lot !

 

[3v0]

If you have a harbor freight nearby watch for their bench top drill presses to go on sale. They are good for a lot more then drilling PCBs. I think I purchased mine for under $40.

3v0

 

[HarveyH42]

If you have a harbor freight nearby watch for their bench top drill presses to go on sale. They are good for a lot more then drilling PCBs. I think I purchased mine for under $40.

3v0

Got mine at Big Lots for around $40 as well. Money well spent, hardly use the hand drill anymore.

 

[Blueteeth]

I've recently switched to carbide bits (10UKP for 10 per size on ebay) and they really do last a lot longer. But my old standard HSS bits lasted for quite a few boards when I used FR2, or CEM1/3 (200-300 holes?). For FR4, I barely got 50 holes out of a bit before it would 'push' holes into the material rather than cut lol

FR4 is a standard, but there really is nothing wrong with cheaper substrates, they'll be a bit kinder to your tooling, they're cheaper, easier to work with etc.. Of course FR4 is mandatory for RF/high frequency prototyping, but for audio, microcontrolelrs stuff? does the job.

As for a stand, I use this:
**broken link removed**

There is a little play in it as you lower it, fitting my 'rubber coated' dremel tool was a nightmare, but once its in and clamped its pretty accurate. Dremels really aren't *that* good for PCB work, the mini chuck I got for mine was off centre, ended up having to use homamde collets for 1/8th shank size. After all that though, my boards look pretty sweet.

Blueteeth