[the1laz]

Hi, I just got my first board back and it is great! The quality was good and I appreciate the discrete placement of the manufacturing code.

For my next board I was looking at doing something like the protosnap:[url=https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10889]https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10889[/url]
It has multiple boards on it that are all joined together and you break them off. Is something like this okay as long add it stays in one piece? Do you have rules about milling shapes and sizes?

[Grey.CC]

Uhm~  Sometime, I have to say WOW~
Sorry, there is not this kind of product now. Hey, could you tell me your application environment? Make fast testing?
I've checked the hardware. It should not be very difficult. If you are an electric guy, you could draw one by your self. And we also provide PCB manufacture service. For the small board, it is only $9.9
[url=http://www.dfrobot.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=717&search=PCB&description=true]http://www.dfrobot.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=717&search=PCB&description=true[/url]
You could take a look.  And if your application is very interesting, we will write it down in the customer request.

Have a nice weekend~~

[coflynn]

FWIW: I just had a board manufactured with a snap-off section (it's a dual-use board, and one of those uses requires break off a section). I'll let you know how it worked out when I get the board back (still being manufactured).

I believe assuming you respect hole spacing along with distance from hole to trace (use DFRobot eagle file, which I think specifies 10mil), the break-off section is no different than anything else.

[the1laz]

[quote="Grey"]
Uhm~  Sometime, I have to say WOW~
Sorry, there is not this kind of product now. Hey, could you tell me your application environment? Make fast testing?
I've checked the hardware. It should not be very difficult. If you are an electric guy, you could draw one by your self. And we also provide PCB manufacture service. For the small board, it is only $9.9
[url=http://www.dfrobot.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=717&search=PCB&description=true]http://www.dfrobot.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=717&search=PCB&description=true[/url]
You could take a look.  And if your application is very interesting, we will write it down in the customer request.

Have a nice weekend~~
[/quote]

Sorry, I didn't mean to ask you to design the board. :) I just wanted to check if it's okay for me to submit pcb orders that have channels and rows of drill holes in them.

[quote="coflynn"]
FWIW: I just had a board manufactured with a snap-off section (it's a dual-use board, and one of those uses requires break off a section). I'll let you know how it worked out when I get the board back (still being manufactured).

I believe assuming you respect hole spacing along with distance from hole to trace (use DFRobot eagle file, which I think specifies 10mil), the break-off section is no different than anything else.
[/quote]
Thanks, that'd be great! The snap-off boards seem perfect for a few of my projects, it'd be good if they work.

[coflynn]

Will let you know - there was some discussion on the break-apart board you reference at https://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=29501 that discusses drill spacing. Those PCBs were thinner than the normal 1.6mm too.

For my PCB I used a wider spacing with larger holes, partially as I wanted it to be difficult to snap apart, possibly requiring you to score it first. For my PCB most of the time it won't be snapped apart (hopefully!). Mine is also a 4-layer PCB so will probably be a little different in terms of material construction.

But will report back with general notes anyway!

[the1laz]

Thanks for that link, I'll have a read through.

[coflynn]

Got this back, here's the details. This was a 1.6mm thickness, 4 layer PCB. Holes were 25 mil (0.025") on 0.051" grid, down length of board. I had traces routed between almost all holes (6 mil trace with 10 mil spacing to hole required by board house).

Without scoring, board was difficult to break apart. Here is an example of me trying without first scoring the PCB:
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxuclafL-Y0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxuclafL-Y0[/url]

Note that because I routed traces between boards the halves stay slightly attached until you bend back and forth. My intention was to first score the boards to break traces, but I wanted to check what happens if you don't.

I've attached photos of before and after too, you can see traces rip up a bit on snapping. I had routed 'sacrificial' traces that went to vias/holes, such that if they did start to rip up they wouldn't run into the rest of the PCB! But scoring before you snap is the best choice...

[img]http://i.imgur.com/1YfMrmO.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/kUBsd5A.jpg[/img]

[the1laz]

Great, thanks for all the detail, you put in everything I need to have a go myself.I wonder what sparkfun did to stop their traces from tearing up. Maybe a thicker layer of mask over the top...

[9efxa]

Sorry, there is not this kind of product now. Hey, could you tell me your application environment? Make fast testing?

[albertareed1988]

Thanks for the update and quick reply. I'll be sure to keep an eye on this thread official website