I decided to add two diodes to a PWB yesterday to make up for a possibly off brand op amp. Costs $10 shipping to get the $.33 JRC4558D part and my pension doesn't come in for days. It took me over 2 hours with needed rests to drill 4 #61 holes with a pin vise. #61 drills won't fit my 1/4" hand drill, or my precious US made 3/8" milwaukee "holeshooter". The pin vise has threads on the back for the swivel pad and I don't want to put it in the 3/8" chuck and mess them up.
Is there a $20 solution if I want to a lot of these holes? Glass reinforced board is a *****, My next project involves 36 telephone relays with short leads on a very thin board, probably has to be glass reinforced. I know where to buy the carbide drills (mcmaster.com) but where to buy a tiny chuck for my $5 B&D 1/4" drill? I've been using #48 drills and a hand crank stanley yankee drill I found for $2 at the flea market, on fiberboard, but #61 is more correct on a packed PWB. Hand cranking wiggles the drill shaft and would probably break carbide, anyway. #61 drills won't fit the Yankee drill chuck, either.
Is there a $20 solution if I want to a lot of these holes? Glass reinforced board is a *****, My next project involves 36 telephone relays with short leads on a very thin board, probably has to be glass reinforced. I know where to buy the carbide drills (mcmaster.com) but where to buy a tiny chuck for my $5 B&D 1/4" drill? I've been using #48 drills and a hand crank stanley yankee drill I found for $2 at the flea market, on fiberboard, but #61 is more correct on a packed PWB. Hand cranking wiggles the drill shaft and would probably break carbide, anyway. #61 drills won't fit the Yankee drill chuck, either.
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I use a cheep version of the dremmel, bought from Aldi in the UK for about 20 quid, I would imagine you can get similar in the USA. The high RPM helps with the smaller bits.
I`ve used a short length of appropriate size PVC or PTFE sleeving to bush a small drill from time to time.
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