A better way of making PC Boards
A while ago Peter convinced me when making PC Boards you want to solder you components on the copper side of the PC Board
He was thinking of using surface mounted components instead of discreet components.
Well I have been doing a lot of thinking out side the box.
There must be a better way of making your proto-type PC boards without designing them in a CAD software and laying out the PC Board and spending hours making the pc board …. etc.
The problem with using vero board is it takes almost as much effort to make something that is not easily reproducible.
I came up with the idea I would solder my normal sized components on the copper side of a pc board
I tried to grind the copper on top of a blank PC board in to rows of copper and squares
I thought i could make something that looks like a proto board, but I made a mess of that
Then I came up with something that can fit in my drill press . At Chamderlains I came accross something that could cut a circular hold of 10 mm with a thickness of 1 or 2 mm.
A diamond core Drill bit . I experimented with cutting overlapping circles in the copper eventually i bought a 6mm drill bit and succeeded to make that prototype i wanted to make a while ago
I used the larger Islands of copper 10mm diameter as junction points between the components and the 6mm islands for my transistors
I did cut a line near the top with a hacksaw to give me a power rail.
Thinking outside the box you could glue small pieces of vero board with IC sockets on top of my board
and the you can even build digital projects which take 10 minutes to make a board and then you are ready to fit your components
This means you can save a lot of time making your prototype without using a CAD and laying out PC Boards
Schalk for you little onetime projects this is quicker even than veroboard
This made me smile as I remembered how we built valve radios in the past when we did not have the ability to make pcboards
And this is what you get
regards
Nick
A while ago Peter convinced me when making PC Boards you want to solder you components on the copper side of the PC Board He was thinking of using surface mounted components instead of discreet components. Well I have been doing a lot of thinking out side the box. There must be a better way…