"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
news
Jim Wilkins wrote:
...
The frames broke on these, near the die. I wore out a lot of
punches, before the frame died of metal fatigue. I used to do a lot
of prototyping, with hand tools. Trimming fiberglass circuit boards
to fit into a case was the worst for wearing out the tool.

I've worked at a few places, notably Mitre, that had good facilities
for both electronic and mechanical prototyping but that wasn't the
case at smaller startups developing some new idea on a tight budget.
I've nibbled, filed and sanded a lot of circuit boards to size
including the mechanical-fit models for the Segway balance sensor
assembly. At one place when the Dremel died I cobbled up a pump drill
to finish a circuit board. Unlike a bow drill it applied no side force
to the fragile carbide bit.

http://cart.occpaleo.com/stonetippedpumpdrill.aspx

For that price they could at least have found a prettier smoothed
river stone for the weight.