ACTIVITY NO.

3
PCB DRILLING

Course Code: Q039 Program:

Course Title: Engineering drafting and design Date Performed: December 12, 2021
Block: 1 Date Submitted: December 14, 2021
Name: Campos Vincent Joseph F. Instructor: Engr. Nolan Castisimo

1. Objectives:

The activity aims to practice the student’s ability in PCB drilling process. This
experiment also provides students’ knowledge and skills on PCB Lay outing.

2. Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs):

The students shall be able to:

 Show competency on drilling standard and procedure in designing a PCB layout; and
 Illustrate the effect of drilling standard in developing a circuit design.

3. Discussion:

Drilling

Holes through a PCB are typically drilled with small-diameter drill bits made of solid
coated tungsten carbide. Coated tungsten carbide is recommended since many board
materials are very abrasive and drilling must be high RPM and high feed to be cost effective.
Drill bits must also remain sharp so as not to mar or tear the traces. Drilling with high-speed-
steel is simply not feasible since the drill bits will dull quickly and thus tear the copper and
ruin the boards. The drilling is performed by automated drilling machines with placement
controlled by a drill tape or drill file. These computer-generated files are also called
numerically controlled drill (NCD) files or "Excellon files". The drill file describes the location
and size of each drilled hole. These holes are often filled with annular rings (hollow rivets) to
create vias. Vias allow the electrical and thermal connection of conductors on opposite sides
of the PCB.

When very small vias are required, drilling with mechanical bits is costly because of
high rates of wear and breakage. In this case, the vias may be evaporated by lasers. Laser-
drilled vias typically have an inferior surface finish inside the hole. These holes are called
micro vias.

It is also possible with controlled-depth drilling, laser drilling, or by pre-drilling the

individual sheets of the PCB before lamination, to produce holes that connect only some of
the copper layers, rather than passing through the entire board. These holes are called blind
vias when they connect an internal copper layer to an outer layer, or buried vias when they
connect two or more internal copper layers and no outer layers.

The hole walls for boards with 2 or more layers can be made conductive and then
electroplated with copper to form plated-through holes. These holes electrically connect
the conducting layers of the PCB. For multilayer boards, those with 3 layers or more, drilling
typically produces a smear of the high temperature decomposition products of bonding
agent in the laminate system. Before the holes can be plated through,

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board#Drilling
 Table 1. Electronic Symbols hole on board

4. Materials and Equipment:

1. 2x2 PCB
2. Chemical Solution
3. Plastic Container
4. Permanent Marker
5. Masking Tape
6. Mini drill
7. Sand paper

5. Procedure:

1. Design a two PCB Layout at the 2x2 PCB shown at Figure 3-1 using a masking tape
2. Engrave the Copper Layout.
3. Dip the PCB at the Ferric Chloride Solution to remove excess copper at the board.
4. Wash the PCB using running water.
5. Use a mini drill to put holes on the copper side of the first PCB.
6. Wipe the PCB using the Sand paper.
7. Use a mini drill to put holes on the board side of the second PCB.
Figure 3-1

8. Attach the PCB at Data and Result

6. Data and Results:

PCB Drilled in the Copper Side PCB Drilled in the Board Side

7. Data Analysis:
In this activity the easiest way to drill a Pcb is in the board side or the
back side because if you drill the pcb at the copper side if you don’t have
a guide it will slip and damage the copper side of the pcb but if you put
an little hole at the copper side of the pcb it will not slip and continue to
drill the pcb.

8. Conclusion:
In this activity the goal is to make a hole in the pcb. And after preparing the
materials I started first to engrave the figure 3-1 on the pcb using masking tape
and then started to cut it using a cutter after that I dip it with ferric chloride
and then I wait for about 5 mns and then start shaking it a little. After I remove
the copper I started to rinse it and using a sand paper I scratch it a little then
started making guide for the drill just a little bit hole. And then I started drilling
the pcb and I tried to drill the back board of the pcb and the result was it is
easy to drill at the back board than drilling at the copper side of the pcb.
 MATERIALS NEEDED

ENGRAVING THE FIGURE 3-1

DIPPING THE PCB INTO FERRIC CHLORIDE

AFTER WASHING THE PCB I STARTED DOING SOME GUIDE FOR THE DRILL

THEN I DRILL THE PCB FIRST AT THE COPPER SIDE

THEN I DRILL THE PCB AT THE BOARD SIDE