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drilling holes in PCb's

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Simon:
Well I've made my first board in my new house  ;D but I think I'm having problems drilling the holes in it, how do you guys centre and drill your holes ? I use a dremel on a stand but really I can see some are not centred and I can't figure out how to do better as I'm doing it by eye.

Any tips ?

Zad:
Yep, Dremel on a stand. Have you etched centre holes in the pads to help the drill locate? You can always tap a small recess in the pad with a punch or similar spike if you need to stop the drill skating about. What sort of drill bit are you using?

mikeselectricstuff:
You MUST have holes in the pads in your artwork to act as centre-marks.
If you forget, use a sharp pointy thing to make centre marks.,
These holes should be smaller than the actual drill size to avoid a gap between the hole and the pad due to over-etching , which makes soldering harder. 20 mil (0.02") is a good  size for all drill diameters.
Drills should be carbide, as fibreglass eats HSS drills.
Make sure  your drilling area is well lit so you can clearly see where the drill is going. Dust extraction or blowing helps a lot. 

Curtisbeef:
Get a peice of plexiglass and drill a hole in it, then line it up with the PCB hole you want to drill and use it as a guide.

Simon:

--- Quote from: Curtisbeef on August 26, 2010, 04:49:28 am ---Get a peice of plexiglass and drill a hole in it, then line it up with the PCB hole you want to drill and use it as a guide.

--- End quote ---

That's a good idea, yea I have all 0.51mm holes now so that they act as a close centre hole and to ensure I don't end up with any pad area without copper

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