"The registration holes need to be exact, which is why I made an upside down drill press, which is far more accurate (no parallax)."

I used a different technique to get the same benefit. FRP boards in the thickness we use are somewhat transparent, you can see the drill bit from the other side right down to the point of contact, thus no parallax, same as above. To use a normal, bench mount drill press, I purchased a single-board camera with NTSC output that I then fed into a small TV set. I built a small holder for the camera (about 1 inch cubed) plus a 45 degree angle mirror so that the debris from the drilling did not fall on the camera and cover the lens. Looking up through the hole in the center of the drill press table, I was able to position the board with one hand and lower the drill with the other. Gravity works in the same direction as drill force, so it was easy to position the board while it was resting on the table and still provide firm support against the drilling. It worked ell enough for a cheap, out-of-alignment harbor freight drill press to make accurate holes. My approach does require the extra purchase of a $40 or less mini board camera but eliminates the problem of keeping the board from falling down when not drilling or of keep the board in place against the force of drilling.

--

?????????????? KINDNESS

is most VALUABLE when it is GIVEN AWAY for

?????????????????? FREE

?

We're talking variations on a theme.?

Mine seems to be more elaborate, but then again, I could throw stuff at it.

/g/homebrewpcbs/album?id=86511

Harvey

?

"The registration holes need to be exact, which is why I made an upside down drill press, which is far more accurate (no parallax)."

?

I used a different technique to get the same benefit. FRP boards in the thickness we use are somewhat transparent, you can see the drill bit from the other side right down to the point of contact, thus no parallax, same as above. To use a normal, bench mount drill press, I purchased a single-board camera with NTSC output that I then fed into a small TV set. I built a small holder for the camera (about 1 inch cubed) plus a 45 degree angle mirror so that the debris from the drilling did not fall on the camera and cover the lens. Looking up through the hole in the center of the drill press table, I was able to position the board with one hand and lower the drill with the other. Gravity works in the same direction as drill force, so it was easy to position the board while it was resting on the table and still provide firm support against the drilling. It worked ell enough for a cheap, out-of-alignment harbor freight drill press to make accurate holes. My approach does require the extra purchase of a $40 or less mini board camera but eliminates the problem of keeping the board from falling down when not drilling or of keep the board in place against the force of drilling.

--

?????????????? KINDNESS

is most VALUABLE when it is GIVEN AWAY for

?????????????????? FREE

Nice setup!

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Harvey White
Sent: Saturday, November 7, 2020 23:44
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [homebrewpcbs] Drill precision holes without CNC, was RoHS question

?

We're talking variations on a theme.?

Mine seems to be more elaborate, but then again, I could throw stuff at it.

/g/homebrewpcbs/album?id=86511

Harvey

?

On 11/7/2020 11:19 PM, Mike wrote:

"The registration holes need to be exact, which is why I made an upside down drill press, which is far more accurate (no parallax)."

?

I used a different technique to get the same benefit. FRP boards in the thickness we use are somewhat transparent, you can see the drill bit from the other side right down to the point of contact, thus no parallax, same as above. To use a normal, bench mount drill press, I purchased a single-board camera with NTSC output that I then fed into a small TV set. I built a small holder for the camera (about 1 inch cubed) plus a 45 degree angle mirror so that the debris from the drilling did not fall on the camera and cover the lens. Looking up through the hole in the center of the drill press table, I was able to position the board with one hand and lower the drill with the other. Gravity works in the same direction as drill force, so it was easy to position the board while it was resting on the table and still provide firm support against the drilling. It worked ell enough for a cheap, out-of-alignment harbor freight drill press to make accurate holes. My approach does require the extra purchase of a $40 or less mini board camera but eliminates the problem of keeping the board from falling down when not drilling or of keep the board in place against the force of drilling.

--

?????????????? KINDNESS

is most VALUABLE when it is GIVEN AWAY for

?????????????????? FREE

?

Thanks.? Linear rail platform, linear stepper, stopping points are settable (in use).? Worked well until I started making PC boards that were too complicated to produce here.

Harvey

?

Nice setup!

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Harvey White
Sent: Saturday, November 7, 2020 23:44
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [homebrewpcbs] Drill precision holes without CNC, was RoHS question

?

We're talking variations on a theme.?

Mine seems to be more elaborate, but then again, I could throw stuff at it.

/g/homebrewpcbs/album?id=86511

Harvey

?

On 11/7/2020 11:19 PM, Mike wrote:

"The registration holes need to be exact, which is why I made an upside down drill press, which is far more accurate (no parallax)."

?

I used a different technique to get the same benefit. FRP boards in the thickness we use are somewhat transparent, you can see the drill bit from the other side right down to the point of contact, thus no parallax, same as above. To use a normal, bench mount drill press, I purchased a single-board camera with NTSC output that I then fed into a small TV set. I built a small holder for the camera (about 1 inch cubed) plus a 45 degree angle mirror so that the debris from the drilling did not fall on the camera and cover the lens. Looking up through the hole in the center of the drill press table, I was able to position the board with one hand and lower the drill with the other. Gravity works in the same direction as drill force, so it was easy to position the board while it was resting on the table and still provide firm support against the drilling. It worked ell enough for a cheap, out-of-alignment harbor freight drill press to make accurate holes. My approach does require the extra purchase of a $40 or less mini board camera but eliminates the problem of keeping the board from falling down when not drilling or of keep the board in place against the force of drilling.

--

?????????????? KINDNESS

is most VALUABLE when it is GIVEN AWAY for

?????????????????? FREE

That sounds very familiar!

Bertho

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Harvey White
Sent: Sunday, November 8, 2020 10:54
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [homebrewpcbs] Drill precision holes without CNC, was RoHS question

?

Thanks.? Linear rail platform, linear stepper, stopping points are settable (in use).? Worked well until I started making PC boards that were too complicated to produce here.

Harvey

?

On 11/8/2020 12:04 AM, Bertho wrote:

Nice setup!

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Harvey White
Sent: Saturday, November 7, 2020 23:44
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [homebrewpcbs] Drill precision holes without CNC, was RoHS question

?

We're talking variations on a theme.?

Mine seems to be more elaborate, but then again, I could throw stuff at it.

/g/homebrewpcbs/album?id=86511

Harvey

?

On 11/7/2020 11:19 PM, Mike wrote:

"The registration holes need to be exact, which is why I made an upside down drill press, which is far more accurate (no parallax)."

?

I used a different technique to get the same benefit. FRP boards in the thickness we use are somewhat transparent, you can see the drill bit from the other side right down to the point of contact, thus no parallax, same as above. To use a normal, bench mount drill press, I purchased a single-board camera with NTSC output that I then fed into a small TV set. I built a small holder for the camera (about 1 inch cubed) plus a 45 degree angle mirror so that the debris from the drilling did not fall on the camera and cover the lens. Looking up through the hole in the center of the drill press table, I was able to position the board with one hand and lower the drill with the other. Gravity works in the same direction as drill force, so it was easy to position the board while it was resting on the table and still provide firm support against the drilling. It worked ell enough for a cheap, out-of-alignment harbor freight drill press to make accurate holes. My approach does require the extra purchase of a $40 or less mini board camera but eliminates the problem of keeping the board from falling down when not drilling or of keep the board in place against the force of drilling.

--

?????????????? KINDNESS

is most VALUABLE when it is GIVEN AWAY for

?????????????????? FREE

Yes, I see from the photos that they are in principle much the same. A spinning drill bit that can be raised and lowered, a place slide the pcb around in any direction to reach each of the holes to be drilled, and a camera on the opposite side to have a consistent viewing angle. You are using a roto-tool to get higher rpm for the drill bit, a single axes slide with a stepper motor to advance and pull back the drill and a much fancier camera than I have. Plus yours, as you have said, has the drill upside down so that you see the board the same way as the camera does. Do you have crosshairs taped to the display screen? I needed them on mine because the axis of rotation of the drill bit is not parallel to the vertical axis.

Yours does look very substantial. Mine can still be used as a regular drill press between circuit boards without any disassembly and reassembly. I wish I could post pictures of mine, but it is still locked up in a shipping container along with the rest of my workshop waiting for the new workshop to be finished. I added my approach just to provide people with an alternative so that they can choose which suits them best.

--

?????????????? KINDNESS

is most VALUABLE when it is GIVEN AWAY for

?????????????????? FREE

?

I did put a transparency over the screen, laser printed one.? I have the plans for a video crosshair generator in the works, which would be much better.? The camera is an old security camera which runs off 12VDC or 24VAC.? The whole thing runs off 12VDC, so that's why I got the camera that I did.? Hamfest stuff a while back.?

I used the rototool (Proxxon) because it's got a higher RPM, much better bearings, and a much better chuck than the dremel.? I did have a dremel on a stand, but the parallax was horrible.? The reason for making this as is?? I wanted a fixed setup that could be left in one piece.? The stand was from an old (and no, I didn't buy anything but the stand, all there was) Pace desoldering system.? I bought a second one and made an adaptor for the existing hot air desoldering system I have.? Then again, the metcal tips work even better with less trauma to the chip.

You can argue that mine is a bit of overkill, but then again, why not?

Harvey

?

Yes, I see from the photos that they are in principle much the same. A spinning drill bit that can be raised and lowered, a place slide the pcb around in any direction to reach each of the holes to be drilled, and a camera on the opposite side to have a consistent viewing angle. You are using a roto-tool to get higher rpm for the drill bit, a single axes slide with a stepper motor to advance and pull back the drill and a much fancier camera than I have. Plus yours, as you have said, has the drill upside down so that you see the board the same way as the camera does. Do you have crosshairs taped to the display screen? I needed them on mine because the axis of rotation of the drill bit is not parallel to the vertical axis.

?

Yours does look very substantial. Mine can still be used as a regular drill press between circuit boards without any disassembly and reassembly. I wish I could post pictures of mine, but it is still locked up in a shipping container along with the rest of my workshop waiting for the new workshop to be finished. I added my approach just to provide people with an alternative so that they can choose which suits them best.

--

?????????????? KINDNESS

is most VALUABLE when it is GIVEN AWAY for

?????????????????? FREE

"The registration holes need to be exact, which is why I made an upside down drill press, which is far more accurate (no parallax)."

I used a different technique to get the same benefit. FRP boards in the thickness we use are somewhat transparent, you can see the drill bit from the other side right down to the point of contact, thus no parallax, same as above. To use a normal, bench mount drill press, I purchased a single-board camera with NTSC output that I then fed into a small TV set. I built a small holder for the camera (about 1 inch cubed) plus a 45 degree angle mirror so that the debris from the drilling did not fall on the camera and cover the lens. Looking up through the hole in the center of the drill press table, I was able to position the board with one hand and lower the drill with the other. Gravity works in the same direction as drill force, so it was easy to position the board while it was resting on the table and still provide firm support against the drilling. It worked ell enough for a cheap, out-of-alignment harbor freight drill press to make accurate holes. My approach does require the extra purchase of a $40 or less mini board camera but eliminates the problem of keeping the board from falling down when not drilling or of keep the board in place against the force of drilling.

--

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? KINDNESS

is most VALUABLE when it is GIVEN AWAY for

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? FREE

?

A little late, but this is my solution to accurate pcb drilling < >

Mark