Mechanical question

[dhouston]

Since my last reply, I have purchased a drill press for my dremel and am looking forward to using it for this and other things.

I have a drill press for dremel which I use with a non-battery powered Dremel clone. I've used it for drilling the holes for mounting eggbeater antenna elements, using a hardwood fixture made by gluing blocks/strips together rather than machining. I did not recommend it because you might find it too wobbly for your application. However, if you can dedicate it to one application, you can probably find ways to deal with the slack.

BTW, in response to your email, you should check out the Amicus18 section of the forum here if you haven't already. It's about Crownhill's PIC based Arduino form factor (but not 100% pin compatible) products. They might be off-the-shelf solutions for your needs.

[dhouston]

One other suggestion...

I've mounted some projects with the PCB on top. That way all you need is rectangulsr notches extending down from the top of the enclosure and these are fairly easy to do manually. I cut inside the vertical edges with a hacksaw blade, flex the section to be cut out with pliers until it breaks, then file the edges, starting with rough files then finer ones. It's tedious but works for short runs and prototypes. The only drawback is you see the edge of the PCB at the top of each opening and you may need to trim any long through-hole leads.