How I Made a Cheap PCB
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How I Made a Cheap PCB
1–10 of 87 posts
Re: How I Made a Cheap PCB
#2Not really much of an article is it, could be summarised as 'How I ordered a cheap PCB by choosing one of the many companies offering to build cheap PCBs'. I was expecting a little more DIY from the title.
Re: How I Made a Cheap PCB
#3Nice, instead of supporting the PCB business 5 miles away, send it to China. The copper not on your PCB is probably floating down some Chinese river, hence "Dirty PCB".
Re: How I Made a Cheap PCB
#4Could easily have been titled "no way back for America: how even small-time hobbyists can outsource to China now"
Re: How I Made a Cheap PCB
#5Not really much of an article is it, could be summarised as 'How I ordered a cheap PCB by choosing one of the many companies offering to build cheap PCBs'. I was expecting a little more DIY from the title.
Same here! But I think that is the point of the article. The best way to make a cheap PCB is to just buy one. And he's probably right.
There are definite advantages to etching a PCB at home - if you make a mistake that you only discover on assembly, you can make a new run in hours instead of weeks - but soldermask, small vias, and small features are much easier at a real plant. And you won't beat the prices.
He recommends http://dirtypcbs.com/, I personally have had a lot of success with https://oshpark.com/ - local support, you only need 3 boards (not 10) for prototypes, and they do 2-layer in 12 days for $5/sq inch and 4-layer in 2 weeks for $10/sq inch. Once you need a production run, take it to Gold Phoenix.
Re: How I Made a Cheap PCB
#6Not really much of an article is it, could be summarised as 'How I ordered a cheap PCB by choosing one of the many companies offering to build cheap PCBs'. I was expecting a little more DIY from the title.
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Re: How I Made a Cheap PCB
#7Nice, instead of supporting the PCB business 5 miles away, send it to China. The copper not on your PCB is probably floating down some Chinese river, hence "Dirty PCB".
The PCB business 5 miles away has US labor and associated costs. Compare the Chinese board to Advanced Circuits in the US - http://www.4pcb.com/ - you can't get anything without spending over $100.
Re: How I Made a Cheap PCB
#8Nice, instead of supporting the PCB business 5 miles away, send it to China. The copper not on your PCB is probably floating down some Chinese river, hence "Dirty PCB".
The PCB business 5 miles away has US labor and associated costs. Compare the Chinese board to Advanced Circuits in the US - http://www.4pcb.com/ - you can't get anything without spending over $100.
Maybe $100 is what it should cost (assuming some kind of ethical baseline for labour standards and environmental damage).
Re: How I Made a Cheap PCB
#9Not really much of an article is it, could be summarised as 'How I ordered a cheap PCB by choosing one of the many companies offering to build cheap PCBs'. I was expecting a little more DIY from the title.
I enjoyed it. As someone unfamiliar with these things I was pleasantly surprised to learn how inexpensive it was.
Re: How I Made a Cheap PCB
#10Not really much of an article is it, could be summarised as 'How I ordered a cheap PCB by choosing one of the many companies offering to build cheap PCBs'. I was expecting a little more DIY from the title.
Same here! But I think that is the point of the article. The best way to make a cheap PCB is to just buy one. And he's probably right. There are definite advantages to etching a PCB at home - if you make a mistake that you only discover on assembly, you can make a new run in hours instead of weeks - but soldermask, small vias, and small features are much easier at a real plant. And you won't beat the prices. He recom…
Does anyone have any recommendations for a PCB fab in Europe? i.e. where I don't need to wait 4 weeks.