Cheap PCB fab place (for non-urgent stuff)
in [Design]
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From: Andrew on 16 Apr 2010 12:53 "John Devereux" <john(a)devereux.me.uk> wrote in message news:87d3xzsajm.fsf(a)devereux.me.uk... > Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> writes: > >> John Devereux wrote: >>> 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: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> 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. >>>>>> > Myro are the Canadian office of a Chinese manufacturer AIUI. I have been > dealing with them (from the UK) for over 7 years with generally very > good experience. Some of the pooling services might give better pricing > on prototypes but have their own restrictions. With Myro you can have > non-standard board thicknesses, routing shapes, panelization, scoring, > solder resist colours etc. I have even had them make multiple designs on > the same panel, they don't seem to mind as long as they are pre-combined > in the gerbers, in fact there is an option for that on the quote form. > http://www.pcbfabrication.com/ Had a good experience with them, especially if you need non-standard plating, shape, thickness, etc. It will be more expensive, but not outrageously so as in other places. Relatively slow - about two weeks if you don't want to pay extra. -- Andrew
From: Nico Coesel on 16 Apr 2010 13:29 Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >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. Just have the boards gold plated. The ROHS HAL finishing is okay these days. There are also silver plated boards but these are slightly harder to solder. I spray those with flux the minute they arrive. -- Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply indicates you are not using the right tools... nico(a)nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) --------------------------------------------------------------
From: John Devereux on 16 Apr 2010 13:47 Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> writes: > John Devereux wrote: >> Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> writes: >> >>> John Devereux wrote: >>>> Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> writes: [...] >>>>> 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? :) >>>> >>> No, will have to ask. But what I found with several shops is that >>> their standard procedure is RoHS and if you deviate from that there'll >>> be steep extra charges. Then I'd prefer a place that has a standard >>> non-RoHS process. However, often I was able to negotiate the $500 or >>> whatever non-RoHS surcharge away. >> >> AFAIK, it is RoHS that is the non-standard option, just like you >> want. If you go into their quoting system you will see that you have to >> change the defaults for both PCB material and PCB finishing if you do >> want RoHS. >> > > Thanks, I looked at the text on the main page which states RoHS. But > it is good to know that one can bow out sans penalty. > > >> Myro are the Canadian office of a Chinese manufacturer AIUI. I have been >> dealing with them (from the UK) for over 7 years with generally very >> good experience. Some of the pooling services might give better pricing >> on prototypes but have their own restrictions. With Myro you can have >> non-standard board thicknesses, routing shapes, panelization, scoring, >> solder resist colours etc. I have even had them make multiple designs on >> the same panel, they don't seem to mind as long as they are pre-combined >> in the gerbers, in fact there is an option for that on the quote form. >> > > That is nice, others do not like it or slap on a penalty if you > combine designs. Some of my design just look like two because there is > a 10mm isolation barrier with absolutely nothing on it. > > Hopefully Canada doesn't mean it has to go through customs twice, > China -> Canada -> USA. For the UK they come straight from China, don't know about USA. One caveat, for production quantities of 2 layer boards I recommend you specify e-test. You will probably get lucky and be fine, but I once had a batch with 5% fails. The "flying probe" test has low setup but adds a fixed ~$0.60 per board. This actually makes a big difference to production costs because the unit price is otherwise so cheap! OTOH the "bed of nails" test has high setup but no added cost per board. e-test is included anyway with 4+ layer AIUI. -- John Devereux
From: Joerg on 16 Apr 2010 14:02 Nico Coesel wrote: > Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: > >> 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. > > Just have the boards gold plated. The ROHS HAL finishing is okay these > days. There are also silver plated boards but these are slightly > harder to solder. I spray those with flux the minute they arrive. > That's what I did once. It cost extra but the boards sure looked posh, like jewelry. The client was mighty impressed :-) Do they still do nickel-plating these days? Soon I'll have to design one that needs an RF tight contact to an aluminum enclosure. In the good old days one could have aluminum nickel-plated but lately all sorts of environmetal laws threw all that a curve. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Spehro Pefhany on 16 Apr 2010 14:43
On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:15:31 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >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. I like the electrolytic gold boards, which are available at no premium AFAIR, but not RoHS solder. The gold-plated boards will work in either case, and seem to last very well on the shelf, even if you don't take special precautions against like avoiding cardboard (sulphur). |