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[theninjaway]

I went to Radio Shack today to pick up a few things, mainly a new 25w soldering iron, some replacement tips, and a Precision Knife Set that I saw for $5, which was a really good deal, because I'd have to go on a goose chase to find a proper X-Acto knife.
I'm wondering if this will be alright to scrape down the trace/perform cuts, and which bits would be able to do so, if so can you link to which picture in the album is the right picture of the bit for either job.
Below, I have a link to an album with all the tips in it.
http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p79/the...%20Knife%20Set/
I saw that Radio Shack's online thing had a fiberglass pen, however my local Rat-Shack is in the process of relocating, so they don't have much in there, they didn't even have any resistors under 1k.
However, I have seen a video on youtube where a guy from HackingJungle uses an X-Acto knife to scrape it down, and uses a dremel to do the cuts. I've seen another video where the guy makes the cut with a knife, but uses a fiberglass pen.
Could someone advise me on it?

[ImRickJamesB1tch]

Yeah that will cut the traces perfect, it's what I use. But I use a lenline brush aka fiberglass pen to clean the pcb. You can get them from ebay for a < $5. It makes the job so much easier and neater. You can use the hobby knife you bought to clean the board, you just need to be ultra careful.

If you want to do the job properly just get one from ebay, no excuses...

[BoNg420]

I found what worked best for me was using a dremel.  I use a diamond tip engraver and lightly touch the trace and remove the green crap to expose the trace.  Then use a brush to remove excess dust.  Then I use my dremel with a really small cutting wheel to cut the traces.  You have to be careful doing this, but if you just lightly touch the PCB, you will have no issues.  I have found this to be the best way to expose the traces after trying a few other ways, this was the fastest, cleanest, and most precise way to do it.

[theninjaway]

I know my aunt has a dremel, I'll ask her to borrow it.
Otherwise, I'll just try and scrape it down. I can't really stand to wait a week or more for a lenline to come from eBay.

[ProCision]

QUOTE(theninjaway @ Jul 23 2010, 10:26 AM)

I know my aunt has a dremel, I'll ask her to borrow it.
Otherwise, I'll just try and scrape it down. I can't really stand to wait a week or more for a lenline to come from eBay.

xacto knife is what I also use, never had a problem with it.

[Buzzcut]

Any kind of small sharp knife will do as long as can hold it like a pen, just be very gentle with it.  Don't try and cut the traces in one go, 20 light strokes on the same point will cut it just as well and you'll be less likely to slip and damage anything else.

Same goes for the scraping, just be gentle, 20 light scrapes will still get that green coating off as well as one heavy one.