PCB Drilling

Well I got all of the drilling done on the PCB for the Gen 7 Electronics. I used the following equipment for the drilling:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00953169000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00961121000P?

I originally had the Craftsman Variable Speed rotary tool, but when I went to use it I could see the drill bit visually wiggling as it turned. Not good for PCB work. Strangely enough the single speed one seems to be more accurately built. Still some wiggle but not near as much.

I originally purchased all of the recommended drill bit sizes based what came out of the gEDA pcb files. But I only ended up using three sizes as follows (wire sizes shown):

#68 - For the ATX connectors
#60 - For the stepper motor connectors
#58 - For everything else

The #58 seems to be pretty much the all purpose bit. All of the regular through hole components worked fine with this size. The smaller three pin connectors did too as long as I passed the bit through the hole one more time. There is probably a better drill size for this kind of connector (they were originally listed as needing a #60) but there is so much play in the rotary tool that I was afraid of completely blasting away the pads on my PCB if I went bigger.

So much less of an exact science than I thought, mostly due to the tools.

I purchased all of my bits from this guy. Prices seem reasonable and he threw in a bunch of extra bits too!

http://stores.ebay.com/carbideplus

I started soldering in components before posting this so I will post a picture once all of the soldering is complete.