Cheap PCB fab place (for non-urgent stuff)
in [Design]
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From: Joerg on 16 Apr 2010 09:15 Martin Riddle wrote: > "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message > news:82jdnbFkdmU3(a)mid.individual.net... >> Rich Webb wrote: >>> On Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:41:37 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Gents, >>>> >>>> Was mentioned in this month's IEEE Spectrum: >>>> >>>> http://batchpcb.com/index.php/Faq >>>> >>>> It's not something for urgent projects, you can't have more than >>>> four layers and no really small drill sizes but it sure is cheap. >>>> Seems like this is run by Sparkfun. >>> I've used it and it's fully in compliance with the old saying "Good, >>> fast, or cheap. Pick two." No complaints at all about the board >>> quality >>> (two-sided) and the prices are certainly good. Actually, I received >>> twice the number of boards that I had ordered at no extra cost, >>> presumably because it was used to fill out the panel. They did take a >>> while to be received, though! >>> >> Sure, it's only for projects along the lines of "I always wanted to >> have ...", not for urgent client stuff. >> >> -- >> Regards, Joerg > > Just got a quote from http://www.myropcb.com/ on a 2 layer board (5x6), > $90 for 5 pcs. > This is almost $2.50 a square inch. Except its for 5 and delivery is 2 > weeks. > Someone here had pointed them out. We had some 4 layer stuff done and > the quality is excellent. > Thanks, sounds like a good deal. Unfortunately they seem to do RoHS boards which I avoid whenever possible. Most of my projects are non-EU or exempt. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joerg on 16 Apr 2010 09:18 Tim Williams wrote: > "Martin Riddle" <martin_rid(a)verizon.net> wrote in message > news:hq8ehk$9tr$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... >> Just got a quote from http://www.myropcb.com/ on a 2 layer board (5x6), >> $90 for 5 pcs. >> This is almost $2.50 a square inch. Except its for 5 and delivery is 2 >> weeks. > > Geez. I could do those in two days with $10 of materials. > Wait a few years and then (try to) write that again. When you have your degree, a 11-12h job, wife, kids, a mortgage, not one minute of truly free time, and you just got a call that your son turfed his bike on Old Mill Road and is in the ER ... :-) -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: John Devereux on 16 Apr 2010 10:00 Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> writes: > Martin Riddle wrote: >> "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message >> news:82jdnbFkdmU3(a)mid.individual.net... >>> Rich Webb wrote: >>>> On Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:41:37 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Gents, >>>>> >>>>> Was mentioned in this month's IEEE Spectrum: >>>>> >>>>> http://batchpcb.com/index.php/Faq >>>>> >>>>> It's not something for urgent projects, you can't have more than >>>>> four layers and no really small drill sizes but it sure is >>>>> cheap. Seems like this is run by Sparkfun. >>>> I've used it and it's fully in compliance with the old saying "Good, >>>> fast, or cheap. Pick two." No complaints at all about the board >>>> quality >>>> (two-sided) and the prices are certainly good. Actually, I received >>>> twice the number of boards that I had ordered at no extra cost, >>>> presumably because it was used to fill out the panel. They did take a >>>> while to be received, though! >>>> >>> Sure, it's only for projects along the lines of "I always wanted to >>> have ...", not for urgent client stuff. >>> >>> -- >>> Regards, Joerg >> >> Just got a quote from http://www.myropcb.com/ on a 2 layer board >> (5x6), $90 for 5 pcs. >> This is almost $2.50 a square inch. Except its for 5 and delivery is >> 2 weeks. >> Someone here had pointed them out. We had some 4 layer stuff done >> and the quality is excellent. >> > > Thanks, sounds like a good deal. Unfortunately they seem to do RoHS > boards which I avoid whenever possible. Most of my projects are non-EU > or exempt. Well.... don't order them RoHS then! What, you're going to boycott them because they *can* do RoHS? :) -- John Devereux
From: Hammy on 16 Apr 2010 10:15 On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:18:53 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: > >Wait a few years and then (try to) write that again. When you have your >degree, a 11-12h job, wife, kids, a mortgage, not one minute of truly >free time, and you just got a call that your son turfed his bike on Old >Mill Road and is in the ER ... :-) When I went on interviews after I graduated a lot of the places did their own in house prototyping and small production runs several had there own Pick & Place machines etc. These were I'd say medium to large companies. With anywhere from 10 to over a hundred employees. For a one man operation yea you wouldn't have time for prototyping or it wouldn't be cost effective. If you have a staff with say a couple of Tech's it could be part of their jobs. You can't really factor in design time and artwork your doing that anyway or you're not engineering anything. For me to transfer the artwork to PCB and etch the boards mentioned it would take 2 to 3 hours. This DOESN'T include drilling holes other then four for alignment (top/bot) and populating the boards. If you have a proper etchant tank its not like you have to waste time watching the boards etch (unless you're into that stuff). Put them in the tank set the timer and go about other stuff.So a total time of 1 hour to an hour and a half of your time would be spent fabricating the boards not unreasonable. You would probably waste as much time getting quotes.
From: Joerg on 16 Apr 2010 10:39
Hammy wrote: > On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:18:53 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> > wrote: > > >> Wait a few years and then (try to) write that again. When you have your >> degree, a 11-12h job, wife, kids, a mortgage, not one minute of truly >> free time, and you just got a call that your son turfed his bike on Old >> Mill Road and is in the ER ... :-) > > When I went on interviews after I graduated a lot of the places did > their own in house prototyping and small production runs several had > there own Pick & Place machines etc. These were I'd say medium to > large companies. With anywhere from 10 to over a hundred employees. > My first employer als ran a full SMT assembly line but that was when there were hardly any shops that could do high-density SMT. > For a one man operation yea you wouldn't have time for prototyping or > it wouldn't be cost effective. If you have a staff with say a couple > of Tech's it could be part of their jobs. > > You can't really factor in design time and artwork your doing that > anyway or you're not engineering anything. > No, that's part of engineering. But I always farm out the layout and then provide guidance on the iffy parts like switchers and RF. > For me to transfer the artwork to PCB and etch the boards mentioned > it would take 2 to 3 hours. This DOESN'T include drilling holes other > then four for alignment (top/bot) and populating the boards. > I stopped doing that once I had my degree. No time for that. Holes are another matter these days. I wouldn't know how to reliably get dozens of teeny holes per square-inch into a packed SMT board with TSSOP and stuff on there, let alone plate them. You can't do that with wires if underneath a DFN package etc. > If you have a proper etchant tank its not like you have to waste time > watching the boards etch (unless you're into that stuff). Put them in > the tank set the timer and go about other stuff.So a total time of 1 > hour to an hour and a half of your time would be spent fabricating the > boards not unreasonable. You would probably waste as much time getting > quotes. Not really. The last run for a client: Sent Gerbers, BOM and such, cc'd client and asked that my client be cc'd on quotes, invested time about five minutes. Client said they liked the 10-day full turn-key, sent over credit info, probably five minutes on their part. Fab house bought all SMT parts. 10 days later fully populated boards were on my lab bench and they even threw in a bag of trail mix so I saved the 15 sec round trip to the kitchen :-) -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM. |