Think and Tinker have a nice selection of precision collets and various end= mills available. I can see doing this if you enjoy fiddling with such things, but these days= good quality smallish boards can be had quickly and cheaply. I can see doi= ng PCB milling or the laser printer + iron/laminator route for a quick turn= around of a prototype or one-off=85but through plating vias yourself seems = a little whacky. -Pete On Oct 3, 2012, at 4:06 PM, RussellMc wrote: > They make PTH look easy. Almost. >=20 > http://www.thinktink.com/stack/volumes/volvi/copplate.htm >=20 >=20 > They start ... >=20 > Once the through-holes have been activated, your board is ready for acid > copper electroplating (short for "electrolytic plating"). Considering the > amount of trepidation that seems to surround the entire topic of > through-hole connectivity, and the lengths that some people will go to > avoid wet chemistry, putting a uniform, reliable sheath of copper on the > insides of every hole turns out to be quite straight forward if not > downright easy. Thanks to decades of work by the major electrochemical > suppliers, the various chemical systems are well understood and readily > available in most industrialized nations. Most of the equipment, like aci= d > copper plating tanks, > is easy to make and will last for many years if properly maintained. The > items that are not easily fabricated in a home shop are available from a > variety of sources. A high-performance plating solution can be > mixed > using > readily available materials. > --=20 > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .