I am presently using small perforated breadboards that occasionally need the perforations enlarged for leads of larger devices such as diodes and resistors.Do I really need carbide drills and an expensive Dremel or Skil tool (which in themselves are clumsy to handle)?And is there a superior grade of hookup wire? I would prefer wire that it extremely soft annealed and easier to strip. I could also profit from expert advice on wire wrapping tools and accessories.I cannot find circuits online for my rig so I am manufacturing them from scratch.

Back in the 80s I built an I/O module for my Heathkit H8 PC using standard chip sockets (not wire wound type) and used a wire wrap tool plus solder. I was able to strip about 1/4 inch insulation and wrap about 2 turns and then solder. Worked OK for a hobby but it would never last in one of your salt water stories. :BShould mention I also installed resistors and caps in chip sockets.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:I am presently using small perforated breadboards that occasionally need the perforations enlarged for leads of larger devices such as diodes and resistors.Do I really need carbide drills and an expensive Dremel or Skil tool (which in themselves are clumsy to handle)?What kind of perf boards are you using? I use cheap paper phenolic (usually orange, with tiny copper donuts only one side)... I get away with using a small flat bladed screw driver to ream the hole bigger at the cost of sometimes losing the copper pad.When I was fabricating my own printed circuit boards at home, using glass boards, I did use the fancy solid carbide drill bits in a dremel drill press. Before the dremel came along, it was a pure torture trying to drill the boards by hand with a conventional drill and conventional bits.You can buy second hand carbide bits in quantity dirt cheap from a popular online auction site. They're not sharp enough for the high speed CNC milling machines that make industrial boards by the millions, but they're fine for drilling a few holes here or there.

Used to drill P.C. boards years ago with a Dremel mounted in a small bench top drill press (that way the holes were straight), and there was less chance of the drill wandering...I don't think you'll need a carbide bit, but you will need a premium quality bit not a wallyworld special. A good bit will be sharpened properly and do a better job...I've seen cheap bits (especially small ones) that were "sharpened" backwards and tore or wore the material instead of cutting.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:I am presently using small perforated breadboards that occasionally need the perforations enlarged for leads of larger devices such as diodes and resistors.Do I really need carbide drills and an expensive Dremel or Skil tool (which in themselves are clumsy to handle)?And is there a superior grade of hookup wire? I would prefer wire that it extremely soft annealed and easier to strip. I could also profit from expert advice on wire wrapping tools and accessories.I cannot find circuits online for my rig so I am manufacturing them from scratch.Get a Dremel DRILL PRESS ADAPTER/STAND.SEE HEREThat is what my Tech School used when I was there many moons ago, as one of our lab projects we had to design and layout our own circuit board. Once the board had gone through the stripping process we had to drill out the holes for the components. A Dremel mounted in a drill press adapter stand did the trick.No special drill bit needed unless you want it to last longer since circuit board material is phenolic board or fiberglass. You just need a set of small drill bits which will fit the collet of your rotary tool and will still make a hole big enough for the wire to pass.If you are considering making your own circuit board from scratch you can find free software for that purpose online or use MS Paint or Photoshop to draw lines and such.Once you have the design you can flip the design electronically then print it out on a laser printer.Once you have the printout you place the printed side of the paper on the copper side of the board. Then use a iron you would use to iron clothes placing it on the back of the paper. The heat of the iron will melt the laser toner and as you press the paper and board together the toner transfers to the copper.Remove the iron then allow board to cool off to room temp.Once at room temp place the board into warm water and allow to soak, the soaking is important, you want the paper to rub off away from the toner..The toner acts like a mask and will stop the etching acid from touching what is under it.I have used the toner method to create and transfer custom lettering to brass and even plexiglas. It does take some experimentation with paper, types of toner and even how much and how long to heat the item for best transfers.. I have even been able to transfer COLOR laser printing..Once paper has been removed and you have black mask of toner you simply want to inspect and correct any places the the toner did not stick to (they make masking pens for this).Once mask is OK you then proceed to etching the board.For an etch ant you can use Muratic acid instead of buying regular etching acid.Here is a top notch must read if you want to get all the details on the home transfer and etching process.Click HEREAs for wiring, I prefer to use stranded when possible, bends easier than solid.I stay away from the old school wire wrap.. Used to cringe every time I had to repair a 60s-70s Sylvania TV which often made extensive use of wire wrapping :M , just a joy to find that one blasted bad connection under several wraps on one post.. Often ended up soldering each post until the bad one was found.

I think he is using perforated bread boards not printed circuit boards. Enlarging the holes to fit his pin size. Hard to find a lot of that stuff anymore in this throw away world. I just used cheapo drill bits and bought lots of them. Dremel drill press works well. Sometimes a breadboard works out better than printed circuit board when you are changing the design as you build. They used to sell push pins that can be put in and removed as required. If you are drilling out the holes for crimp pins you may want to see if you can purchase the push pins from Mouser or other places on the internet.

Drilling P.C. Boards (tips solicited) | Good Sam Community

riggsp
Explorer
Nov 14, 2014
Used to drill P.C. boards years ago with a Dremel mounted in a small bench top drill press (that way the holes were straight), and there was less chance of the drill wandering...I don't think you'll need a carbide bit, but you will need a premium quality bit not a wallyworld special. A good bit will be sharpened properly and do a better job...I've seen cheap bits (especially small ones) that were "sharpened" backwards and tore or wore the material instead of cutting.
GordonThree
Explorer
Nov 14, 2014
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I am presently using small perforated breadboards that occasionally need the perforations enlarged for leads of larger devices such as diodes and resistors.

Do I really need carbide drills and an expensive Dremel or Skil tool (which in themselves are clumsy to handle)?

What kind of perf boards are you using? I use cheap paper phenolic (usually orange, with tiny copper donuts only one side)... I get away with using a small flat bladed screw driver to ream the hole bigger at the cost of sometimes losing the copper pad.

When I was fabricating my own printed circuit boards at home, using glass boards, I did use the fancy solid carbide drill bits in a dremel drill press. Before the dremel came along, it was a pure torture trying to drill the boards by hand with a conventional drill and conventional bits.

You can buy second hand carbide bits in quantity dirt cheap from a popular online auction site. They're not sharp enough for the high speed CNC milling machines that make industrial boards by the millions, but they're fine for drilling a few holes here or there.
Harvard
Explorer
Nov 14, 2014
Back in the 80s I built an I/O module for my Heathkit H8 PC using standard chip sockets (not wire wound type) and used a wire wrap tool plus solder. I was able to strip about 1/4 inch insulation and wrap about 2 turns and then solder. Worked OK for a hobby but it would never last in one of your salt water stories. :B

Should mention I also installed resistors and caps in chip sockets.

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