Thread: pcb drilling

Hi everyone. I have started work on pcb and while everything else is great I can't get my hand steady when the drill touches the board. The drill somewhat scratches the board at the beginning. I have no other problems I can drill at the right spot, just wanted to know if the drill scratching will effect the overall circuit performance. Also should I drill after etching or before? Thanks for the help

You might want to invest in a pillar drill .... I have never tried to do this with a hand drill, but I imagine it could be tricky. You could use a small metal punch or awl to make an indentation to get you started.