Tidying up in the proto lab: resizing drill holes with a smoothing broach

While I was on holiday, there was some serious tidying up at DeltaProto.

Not the workbench.

Not the parts warehouse.

But drill holes.

With a smoothing broach from the jewellery trade we brought the holes in a PCB neatly to size, without damaging the plating. Unlike a drill, this removes no copper: the material is deformed in a controlled way instead.

That may seem like a detail of 1.10 mm.

But it is exactly details like these that decide whether you can keep using the prototype PCBs, or have to write them off and order again. And everyone who develops electronics knows: waiting for new PCBs usually costs far more than the part itself.

At DeltaProto we love tidying up. But only if fewer PCBs end up in the bin afterwards.

Sometimes tidying up does not mean throwing something away.

Sometimes it means knowing exactly what you should leave alone.

#PCBAProtoLabLearnings #HappyEngineering