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[on:]

I'm looking to make some shields, but I don't know what a good thickness is for PCBs.

I want it to be as thin as possible (to make for easier cutting and drilling), but not so thin that it will bend/break.

What are some thicknesses that you people have had success with?

[Reply #1 on:]

Well if its a shield it probably won't be moving much, so thinner would probably be okay.  Unless the shield will be often removed and replaced.

[Reply #2 on:]

Well, I was looking at very thin PCBs (like the thickness of 3 sheets of paper), and that was too thin according to most people.

Do you have any specific recommendations?

[Reply #3 on:]

find someone with a bandsaw  ;D

[Reply #4 on:]

My neighbor has a bandsaw, but I read that it eats through the blades very quickly, and that all the FR4 dust jams the blade and gets in the lungs..

[Reply #5 on:]

I do not like the .032" I got from a surplus web site.  It flexes way too much, breaking solder joints, etc.  The copper is thin, too, but that's a separate issue.

I prefer .062" minimum.

Fiberglass (FR4, etc) is rough on tooling, but you're not cutting all that much when trimming a few PCBs (I'm assuming you're not going into business or making production level runs).  I use a cheap carbide tipped blade (same one I use for rough 2x4s, pressure treated lumber, etc).

-j

[Reply #6 on:]

Cool, thanks.

I saw some .06 on eBay cheap, so I may go ahead and grab that .