Perf Board Questions...

[Lonely Raven]

OK, I've never worked with Perf Board before, and I see many people around here like to use it...I guess because Ken used it?

Anywho, since I have this fancy schmancy 35watt laser at my disposal, and there are drawings on the forum for making a TW style board set...I could take a few hours/days and make a template for my laser to cut perfect perf boards.

The problem is, I have no idea what material the boards are made out of! And that said, not sure if the laser can cut through it.

And I've never seen nor used flea clips. So I'm not sure if I even want to mess with perf boards, though I have a machine that could do it!

But, on the other side, I could easily make some snappy looking maple circuit boards, or bubinga or something neat. A little clear coat on them to keep them from cracking over the years...that would be sweet!

Am I the only one that would think a wood circuit board would look great? I think Bob Burt or someone does something like that. They look fantastic!

Thoughts?

[gearhead]

You want to make sure the board material is not able to absorb much moisture. Would look cool, but not sure how the wood would work long-term.


The one's UR12 make are Grade XX phenolic. McMaster-Carr stocks a bunch.

[Lonely Raven]

You want to make sure the board material is not able to absorb much moisture. Would look cool, but not sure how the wood would work long-term.


The one's UR12 make are Grade XX phenolic. McMaster-Carr stocks a bunch.

Yeah, that's why the wood would have to be sealed well. That's not a big deal. I went to Bob Burts gallery and I don't see any circuit boards...so maybe it wasn't him that was doing wood boards, but the cabinets were of such great quality it made me think of him.

As for phenolic, I'm not sure I can laser through that. I have some G-10 handy, I should try it out on that before I move forward with traditional circuit boards.

Wood is easy.

[drhulsey]

OK, I've never worked with Perf Board before... And I've never seen nor used flea clips...

The type flea clips Ken used are no longer manufactured, nor is the perf board. Dana (UR12) has made some by hand and of course drill press(makes my back hurt just to think about it).
I don't think anyone believes there is any magic in that style of board, but those wanting to make AUTHENTIC replicas were, of course, interested in it. Some have found new old stock of clips and board, but they're few and far between.
I think you would make better boards out of phenolic, garolite, etc., rather than wood. Phenolic board would probably yield to the will of the 35W laser. It's a plastic. Somebody sells board with various designs on them. You could certainly do that with your laser.
The laser would make feasible approach to producing perf boards for those who might want them. You are already "tooled up" and you could make as many or as few as the demand dictated. You could even personalize them with the builder's name

[Fredaxis]

I known I had already seen that somewhere...
Look here: http://vintone.com/news.html

[Lonely Raven]

I known I had already seen that somewhere...
Look here: http://vintone.com/news.html

THATS who I was thinking of! Vintone!

Yeah, I could pop those out almost as fast as I could put the wood into the laser!

I'll have to hit up Dana for a sample of the phenolic he uses and see if the laser will cut through it. If it does, I could probably make some peoples lives a lot easier. Drill press is painfull for that many holes!

[drhulsey]

... I'll have to hit up Dana for a sample of the phenolic he uses...

Raven, check out this thread:
https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.php?t=510
I've got some Grade G-10/FR4 Garolite: A glass-cloth laminate with epoxy resin binder, this material is the flame-retardant version of standard G-10 Garolite. It's 1/8" thick, black in color. I'd be happy to send you some to see if the laser will cut it. I have ordered some 1/16" brown of the same material and will share some with you for experimentation.
The original perf board was phenolic, had holes spaced at .265" and .092" in diameter, and was .062" thick (1/16" thick).
Here's a layout of the Express boards:

[UR12]

Tim the board you posted pics of are liverpool boards

There are 280 holes in the preamp board and 234 in ea power supply board. I usually stack them 4 thick and drill through 4 at a time, so I can make 4 sets of boards in about 2 hours. I have it down to a science I am on my last piece of phenolic and perfer to use the 1/8" thick stuff. It isn't as flimsey and is easier to work with and I think makes for a sturdier board. I have had trouble in the past finding the right phenolic. The phenolic is a paper and resin based product and a hot drill bit will scorch it and leave a burnished looking hole now and then. It should be interesting to see if a laser can burn through the stuff and also leave a clean looking hole. The original 1/16 inch stuff was manufactured by a punch technique and the holes were actually punched, not drilled.

[Lonely Raven]

Tim the board you posted pics of are liverpool boards

There are 280 holes in the preamp board and 234 in ea power supply board. I usually stack them 4 thick and drill through 4 at a time, so I can make 4 sets of boards in about 2 hours. I have it down to a science I am on my last piece of phenolic and perfer to use the 1/8" thick stuff. It isn't as flimsey and is easier to work with and I think makes for a sturdier board. I have had trouble in the past finding the right phenolic. The phenolic is a paper and resin based product and a hot drill bit will scorch it and leave a burnished looking hole now and then. It should be interesting to see if a laser can burn through the stuff and also leave a clean looking hole. The original 1/16 inch stuff was manufactured by a punch technique and the holes were actually punched, not drilled.

Yeah, the laser does scortch wood, so it might scortch the phenolic as well. The end result (assuming it can cut through phenolic) won't be bad or distorted, but the discolored holes might turn some people off.

That press machine that made those originally must have been POWERFUL!

Dana, can you send me just a little chip or cut-off to practice on? I'll flip you a few $$ through Pay Pal for shipping if you want. I don't need much, even a quarter sized piece is plenty to give me a feel of how it will work. So any scraps are fine.

Doc, I'll PM you my address, same goes for the flame retardant G-10. Just send me a scrap and I'll see what the laser does to it. I think I have a stash of regular (blue) G-10 from back when I made Hoffman boards for people.

[drhulsey]

Tim the board you posted pics of are liverpool boards...

Damn Did I miscount those holes again

[gearhead]

If I'm counting correctly, the "tab" for the express board is 8 holes wide, and 10 for the liverpool.