You folks at NG are one of the big kids on the block. However, we all are going through this pain with some suffering less than more or less or whatever. I understand your not wanting to invest in automated and programmable routing equipment and software. However, it is the best thing going when it comes to minimal damage as not chatter, shock, or other deleterious causes. Next comes V scoring. I hate this stuff but in a well managed operation, with sharp pizza cutter blades, it does the job. Nibbling is out of the question. You really have to ask yourself the question what damage may be effected by what cause and go from there. If you have high layer count, high rel MLB's, you do the best you can. If you can't afford component solder joint or component damage of any kine, you do the best thing. What's your need? High yields and high reliability, I suspect. MoonMan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------