🚀 go-pugleaf

> In <Bvnv3y.89B@acsu.buffalo.edu> v064mb9k@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (HELLO) writes:
> 
> 
>  I am working on a device that I want to manufacture in short numbers.
> The pc board dimensions are roughly 3*3 inches. Its much easier
> to cut my own from stock. Is there a cheap or inexpensive tools that
> could cut 1/16th inch double sided clad board neatly?

	A shear is best, but expensive and not commonly found in home or
basement shops. Any tin knocker's (affectionate term for sheet metal
worker) shop can do the job cheaply (as already mentioned.)
(Fiberglass is tough on shear blades too.)

	A band saw with a fine tooth blade will work, but not for
long. The (fiber)glass boards are very abrasive and dull the blade
quickly. Same for hacksaw blades. Carbide blades are avaiable for
bandsaws, but I've never used one on glass board stock. I just use an
old worn out blade to avoid upsetting our machinist's.

	You can put a fine tooth carbide blade in an ordinary table
saw and it will work fine. The rip fence will aid in gettting square
corners. 

	I recently had to make a "Frankenstien" (scab two pieces of
prototype board together) without benefit of power tools. I scribed
both sides of the board using a razor knife using a steel machinists
scale (ruler) for a guide and then broke the board along the (deep)
scribe lines. Flexing the board a few times helped it part cleanly.
This technicque is definitely not recommened for production  use,
but it worked in a pinch. 

	However you cut the boards, you can clean up the cut edge with
an ordinary hand file. This has at least two benefits: breaking the
sharp (and or slightly rough) edge will reduce the possibility of
getting cut, and it will recess the plated surface a tiny bit from the
edge which can help avoid grounding against the chassis in some
mounting arangements.

Have fun,
-Dale
-- 
Dale Chayes Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University
Route 9W, Palisades, N.Y.  10964	dale@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu
voice:	(914) 359-2900 extension 434	fax: (914) 359-6940