Hey guys!
I have a perf board with copper traces running along it, but i want to seperate some of those traces.
how can i do that quickly?
I've been trying to use a craft knife to cut the traces, but no luck. still continuity
any ideas?
That's strip board, not perf board (perfboard has no connections between pins). I never liked working with it for exactly that reason. You need to make a real mess to cut the trace, especially when it's as wide as it is on strip board. My technique is to make two cuts with a razor, a short distance apart, and remove the strip between them - otherwise you sometimes have to make a real mess to actually cut the trace (as you're discovering).. If you have a moto tool, that does a much better job of cutting the trace. I've also seen pictures where it looks like someone has used a drill (centered on a hole) to cut through the trace.
I prefer "solderable breadboard" type prototyping board, where there are groups of holes connected sets of 3 or 4. (In fact, I liked it so much, I had some made, and I sell it on tindie - see my forum picture and store link in sig )
Use a sharp knife and go in at an angle, in line with the trace, trying to dig underneath it.
Then you can peel it up a short distance and cut off.
The original "Vero" board had a matching tool which resembled the end of a wood auger but without the spiral flutes.
These seem to be no longer available; what is presently sold is nothing more than a common drill bit (with a plastic handle). The concept of such tools is to sacrifice all of the track around a hole.
Many years ago, I crafted a broken high-speed hacksaw blade (using a grinder) into a sort of "shoe" shape on the hardened side at the end. The tip is scalloped behind a sharp point and cuts a precise square-sided slot through the track between holes, permitting all holes to be used.
I use a scalpel. Insert it at an angle in the hole and rotate it by about 30 degrees to cut a notch into it. Then swap the board over and repeat so that the second cut matches up with the first cut and a small chip is removed. Repeat for the other side of the hole.
Sounds a lot more complex that it is, I might do a video if you are interested.
Hi,
I use 1/8inch or 3mm drill in a hand drill chuck.
Tom.... 
Here's the current "vero" offering
Hi,
At that price it would want to be gold plated and come with 12 ceramic kitchen knives.
$18.59 in Australia.
Tom....
I use a 3-4mm drillbit, put it in the hole, and just turn it by hand.
If it's sharp enough, you only need a few turns to isolate the track.
Leo..
TomGeorge:
Hi,
I use 1/8inch or 3mm drill in a hand drill chuck.
+1
Quick and easy. Just make sure to take a good look afterwards for copper slivers between tracks.
Just make sure to take a good look afterwards for copper slivers between tracks.
I had a student that had a circuit that left a very fine sliver of copper. I told him, and he said he couldn't see it. So we got the microscope out and I showed it him.
He said "yes but that is only very small that won't stop the circuit working".
I said "well how big do you think an electron is"?
He replied "fair point". He cleared it with a screwdriver and the circuit worked.
Grumpy_Mike:
I had a student that had a circuit that left a very fine sliver of copper. I told him, and he said he couldn't see it. So we got the microscope out and I showed it him.
Days when your vision was better, eh? 
(To see it without the microscope.)
Grumpy_Mike:
I said "well how big do you think an electron is"?
O0 O0 O0
Days when your vision was better, eh?
Yes, I knew my eyes were going when I could not read the numbers on a 25 way D-type connector.
To be fair though I did know what I was looking for.
wawa is absolutely right
just use a drill with the proper diameter.
like wawa i just use my fingers to turn the drill. no extra tools are required. knives and scalpels will also work, however, using a drill is much much simpler and you can hardly make a mistake.
just keep things as simple as possible.