Cutting PCBs using paper guillotine

[akis]

Hello, I have been using a tile cutter machine with a diamond wheel to cut PCBs to size. The problem is it makes a lot of noise, creates a lot of dust that goes everywhere and the edge is not as good as I would have liked it to be (there is board, copper, photoresist and cover film).

I was thinking of using a heavy duty paper guillotine, for example something like this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/HSM-Guillot...qid=1384617929&sr=1-40&keywords=A3+guillotine

or maybe a metal cutting one like

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=430153987&pf_rd_i=468294

Has anyone got experience using any of the above to cut PCBs?

 

[KatieandDad]

I just use a fine tooth tenon saw.

 

[frank1]

Hello, I have been using a tile cutter machine with a diamond wheel to cut PCBs to size. The problem is it makes a lot of noise,

I have found the same...
I don't think that the paper guillotine will be strong enough.
The metal bench shear works well, I have used one many times to cut glass-fibre PCB.

Frank

 

[mcai7et2]

Perhaps a laminate cutter would work?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vitrex-VIT800100-Laminate-Cutter/dp/B003AAJ5T4/

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

I've been cutting PCB material in a medium duty paper cutter for decades. It hasn't even wrecked the paper cutter. Just watch your fingers and be careful to keep the board from shifting. A cheap sheet metal shear also works great. A PC board house would use a router and carbide bit, but that has no place at home because of the glass dust.

 

[akis]

I have found the same...
I don't think that the paper guillotine will be strong enough.
The metal bench shear works well, I have used one many times to cut glass-fibre PCB.

Frank

From the picture I have seen it looks as if the blade will push one part of the PCB down while it is cutting so the yet uncut section will be stretched. In addition I am not sure that the bottom part is sharp enough to give the PCB a clean cut.

Am I right?

 

[akis]

I've been cutting PCB material in a medium duty paper cutter for decades. It hasn't even wrecked the paper cutter. Just watch your fingers and be careful to keep the board from shifting. A cheap sheet metal shear also works great. A PC board house would use a router and carbide bit, but that has no place at home because of the glass dust.

Does it cut in a thin line or does it produce cracks and so on? Have you ever tried it with two layered copper boards?

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

Does it cut in a thin line or does it produce cracks and so on? Have you ever tried it with two layered copper boards?

I cut two layer board quite often. The quality of the cut does depend on the thickness of the board, but I do up to .062". As long as you aren't putting components and traces right up to the edge, which is a general rule regardless, it's OK. The cut certainly isn't the same perfect quality as a router produces. My cutter is one of those old green ones with a fairly heavy cast arm that carries a separate blade. The new ones I see, where the arm is the blade, probably wouldn't do because of blade flex, and the safety guards will likely prevent holding the board firmly enough to make a straight cut. Not too cheap, but the Grizzly sheet metal machine Grizzly.com, when properly adjusted, is rugged and works well if you make a habit of small PCBs. It's also good for brackets and other chassis parts too.

 

[Michael Bean]

I've always been fond of the score and break method. Just score both sides using a straight edge and a scoring tool, line the score up along the edge of your work bench, and snap in two. It works with all of the PCB materials I've used, and makes a nice clean edge that usually only needs a light sanding to smooth it out. The one negative I've found when cutting glass boards is that even hardened steel scoring tools I've tried dull too quickly. I'm thinking I might get a diamond tipped glass cutter to see how well it works for this.

Mike

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

Score and break works well. You might try a carbide scribing tool or maybe a carbide lathe bit ground to the right sort of point. I use a large X-Acto knife blade backwards so the point scrapes rather than cuts. It dulls quickly but get the job done, especially on small pieces of board where the paper cutter scares me.

 

[Michael Bean]

I use a large X-Acto knife blade backwards so the point scrapes rather than cuts.

Yeah, I've done that too. Amazingly, I didn't sever a limb or something in the process.

Mike

 

[Loudthud]

I tried using a paper guillotine. The plastic one I bought broke. Now I'm using a cutter like in reply #6. Got it at Northern Tool for about $100 USD. It works good except it is hard to get a square cut. It needs a good rest or backstop to hold material against.

Tip: An old ceramic IC like an EPROM can be used to sharpen an X-Acto blade.

 

[akis]

I bought a paper guillotine, it can cut 400 pages of 80gsm. That is like an inch or more of paper. Hopefully it will be able to cut a 1.0-1.5mm PCB.

The reason I did not buy the metal shears is that I could not see a good way of aligning the board and holding it in place during the cut.

 

[JMFahey]

I only make phenolic based PCBs, for ease of drilling and cutting.
I use a 3 foot wide shear/guillotine originally meant to cut tin sheets, and it's very happy cutting 1.25mm (or so) PCBs, *up to* 2.5 mm aluminum for my chassis and heatsinks and 1.25 mm plastic for silkscreened front panels and cabinet logos.
I preheat the Phenolic PCB material with a propane torch ... same as professional cutters do.

I'm certain that it can easily cut (preheated) Glass/Epoxy material, and I'm not using it only because glass is murder on tool edges and regular HSS drills.

 

[rephil]

Hi,

The good 🙂 solution is this one from megauk :

Mega-UK - Shears

Model 9000 or Model 9001 ... It works fine, very easy to use, even in order to cut small PCbs (6cm x 5cm), the cut is done in seconds without any problem. Not very cheap ... this is the only known 😱 defect. Take a look at it, there is a demo.

Best regards

rephil