PCB Panel Instructions

Previously it is discussed about the PCB panel methods and advantages, and here is more information and instructions on PCB panel.

You will find multiple methods are used in below PCB panel example.

1. V-cut or V-score at two boarders.
2. CNC routing or milling with gaps between boards.
3. Mouse bites at certain milling places to strengthen connection.
4. 180 degree rotation of two lower boards in order to make full usage of material.

There are some simple rules maybe helpful for your PCB panels.

1. The minimum distance between any two V-cut lines is 3.00 mm.
2. Panels with V-cut do not necessarily need a panel border to create mechanical stability. The panel border on V-cut panels is mainly for ease of handling during the assembly process (tooling holes, fiducials, and fixtures).
3. Some panels need a border to host the positioning holes, when there is no positioning holes inside the boards.
4. V-cut is always over the complete length of the panel (no jump-scoring). This means that only square or rectangular PCB’s of the same size can be panelized when V-cut is the only board separation method chosen.
5. It is possible to use V-cut on irregular shaped PCB”s when used in combination with extra milling or even break-routing to obtain the desired PCB shape. In such cases you may need to add extra clearance between the PCB’s to provide “run-out” space for the milling or break-out-router. Like above example of a panel with a combination of V-cut, milling, mouse bites and rotation.
6. The boarder size is usually from 3mm to 12.7mm, with a minimum size of 3mm.
7. The milling gap is usually from 1.6mm to 2.54mm, with a common size of 2mm.
8. The V-cut depth is usually 1/3 of the total PCB thickness on both sides, like 0.53mm V-cut depth on both sides for a 1.6mm thick board.
9. The boarders are usually on two longer sides, to make the panel more likely in square shape.
10. The panel size is usually more than 100mm in width and less than 300mm in length, except some large size boards.

SDY offers free PCB panel service. You can send the PCB data in single units, and provide panel requirements if you have any. Usually SDY panels the PCB with 5mm boarders on two longer sides if you donot have any requirements on panels. And you will find the panel size from SDY quotation, because the panel size has influence on unit prices. Kindly please feel free to contact Alex@sdy-pcb.com or contact our engineer for any questions on PCB panels.