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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : PicoGAME Mini
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| lizby Guru  Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3010 |
I have three takers now. I may as well offer a 4th one if anyone else wants. I was going to keep a spare, but I have boxes of spares of other things. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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Rickard5 Guru Joined: 31/03/2022 Location: United StatesPosts: 328 |
This $10.00 Cut off tool is Just the Ticket, and if you watch the Coupons, I've gotten them for $5 I know you got a Neat little Tronxy 3d printer, send me some napkin sketches, and I'll Happily draw you up some STL files! Safety First. Some One has to Protect those poor Defenseless Electronics :) I turned the volume on the monitor to max and could hear sound. Thanks Stanleyella |
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| Rickard5 Guru Joined: 31/03/2022 Location: United StatesPosts: 328 |
if You're selling Picomite boards I'll BUY any you got I turned the volume on the monitor to max and could hear sound. Thanks Stanleyella |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3010 |
Rick, you're # 4 and that closes it out. I'll mail soon. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| Rickard5 Guru Joined: 31/03/2022 Location: United StatesPosts: 328 |
Thanks Lizby: send me a PayPal Addy, and I'll send ya some Shipping & Handling I turned the volume on the monitor to max and could hear sound. Thanks Stanleyella |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5707 |
For this particular job, Rikard, I wouldn't recommend that tool - or anything similar. It's very difficult to get a clean, straight cut using one on pcb. The ideal device is a guillotine as they cut using a single shearing action, but a reasonable one that will cut 4in of PCB without deforming it is expensive and cumbersome. The difficulty in this particular case is that there is no waste side - you want both. There is no "safe" side, although the kerf will tend to come from the plate side rather than the PCB because of the way the board is arranged. Many band saws will have blades that have too big a kerf and will remove too much from one side or the other, but you'd probably get away with a fine blade. The craft knife and vice technique works well enough, but it will blunt the blade after a few boards. Fibreglass is a bit of a pig for that. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| astroboy Newbie  Joined: 28/12/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 38 |
Hi Someone told me that we can do a good job with tin snips like this which I guess is like a small guillotine. I haven't tried it yet. I wonder if anyone here has.  |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5707 |
Snips have a shearing action, but they bend one side up and the other down during cutting. You can get some that keep the material flat on one side or the other and bend just the waste side. If you have some, test them on a bit of scrap pcb. I wouldn't recommend snips for this job as the panel pieces are a bit fragile and the thin bits may snap. Some people have managed to cut board with not much more than a steel rule & craft knife on a table. Deeply score both sides along the cut line, clamp one side to the table with something and bend the rest over the edge to snap it. It needs deep scoring though, which isn't easy without everything clamped. I intend to try using tungsten carbide V cutters and a Dremel to do the scoring at some point. I need clear bench area and some sort of clamping arrangement first though. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 3496 |
What is wrong with some sweat.... saw PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5707 |
Not a lot. :) I don't have great sawing skills - especially with wobbly junior hacksaws. I do get almost perfect cuts with a vice and craft knife though. :) I might get a precision Japanese pull saw for this job at some point. For cutting sheet without deforming it much I use an old tool called a Goscut which I've had for many years - and still with the original set of three blades. The main problem with it is that it cuts a 3/32in (approx) strip out of the material so it's no use here. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3010 |
After scoring both sides vigorously in the vise with the box cutter (shades of Col. Mustard) it didn't seem to me that it was going to break cleanly, so I switched to the band saw. Two problems there: one, as Mick suggested, curf, though I was using only a 3/16ths blade, and two, the blade on this saw always wants to cut to the left, so you have to angle the piece. Not too bad a job, I thought--I didn't sever anything important for the circuit, and I probably won't put it in a box, so it doesn't matter if the panels with the cutouts are a bit more narrow than they should be. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5707 |
It makes me nervous when I'm snapping the boards too. lol I've found that pushing it with a block of wood so that the main PCB is kept more or less flat makes me less apprehensive. :) I've even been known to take a hammer to the wood. That PCB material is tough and doesn't want to break. It does eventually though. The edges need a bit of a clean up with a file. I've not got access to either a band saw or a table/bench saw so that's a non-starter for me. Now you know why my boards are never wider than 4in. That's the width of my vice jaws. lol Edited 2022-07-14 02:25 by Mixtel90 Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| pwillard Senior Member  Joined: 07/06/2022 Location: United StatesPosts: 274 |
I happen to have one of these... 8" Shear So cutting PCB's is easy. |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5707 |
Nice.... :) $132.57 just for the shipping and import fees deposit! I don't think I'll bother. lol TBH, though, I've nowhere to mount one unless I take the vice and drill press off my little bench. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3010 |
All 4 of my spare PicoGAME Mini PCBs have been mailed. Hope I don't mess up the one I kept. Now I just have to find the micro SD sockets I bought several years ago. ~ Edited 2022-07-15 01:23 by lizby PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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vegipete Guru Joined: 29/01/2013 Location: CanadaPosts: 1082 |
Yesterday the postman pushed an envelope through the slot - containing a PicoGAME Mini PCB! Thank you Lizby, that's awesome!. I lopped off the ends and started soldering:  I didn't have a suitable VGA connector in my junk, too bad, so sad. At work today, I harvested a VGA connector from an old motherboard in the e-waste bin. The motherboard didn't like the propane torch much - thank goodness for the fume extractor in the welding room. A bit more soldering and fiddling with single row female headers and this is the result:  Power is via USB at the moment, no sound yet, but it works splendidly. Mixtel90's test programs from the PicoGAME VGA development thread work fine within the limits of the Mini. The joystick I plugged in is supposed to be an Atari equivalent. The fire button seems to be on GP14 so I might change R10 to a bigger value - 150 ohm is kinda low for a pull-up. I must find my genuine ancient Atari joystick and test it. Visit Vegipete's *Mite Library for cool programs. |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5707 |
The 150R value is because pin 14 is also the power supply pin for a NES-type controller. You can increase the value if you want to, but if you then want to use a controller you'll have to remember to set GP14 to DO and high to power it while you do, then make it DI again for a joystick. It's looking really good so far! :) Did you get one of the little boxes for it? I'll be interested to see if the connectors, end plates and box all work well together. :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3010 |
Wow, great. You're ahead of me, because what I'm lacking is the SD socket (and Mick suggested doing that first). I know I have them, and I know where they were about a month ago before my wife asked me to tidy up the work table in the space we share (because of sewing she hasn't started yet). But where I put them, I have no idea. I've placed an order on Aliex, but it will likely be weeks before I get them. ~ Edited 2022-07-22 21:10 by lizby PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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Quazee137 Guru Joined: 07/08/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 522 |
Thanks lizby Got the board and now looking through older parts as all my newer are SMD. I used my PCB saw from my last big project of 500 panels of 3. Nice when a project pays for new FUN toys.  |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5707 |
Lovely little saw! :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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