I am looking for someone that can make a me a few proto grade double sided circuit boards.
I have Gerber/Kicad files ready to go. I hope this is not too off topic.
Thanks
Rick
Thank you for the quick reply
1 Like
This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.
Place I use for prototyping that’s dirt cheap is https://www.seeedstudio.com/fusion_pcb.html - They’re based out of China so shipping can take a week or two. Being super cheap out of China I figured the build quality would be okay at best but I was surprised.
I used them for an automation project for my aquarium where I had to design a PCB. At the time it was $20 for 10x pieces of 2-layer 100mm x 100mm … Now it’s holy crap… $5…
They also publish the specifications for manufacturing so when you design you can make sure there aren’t any problems. http://support.seeedstudio.com/knowledgebase/articles/447362-fusion-pcb-specification
1 Like
The laser printer can etch a black PCB with the paths if that’s what you need.
I get my blank PCB’s from amazon in a 12 pack for $12.94
1 Like
I’ll agree with Walter, for fast nice boards I use Oshpark all the time. Great quality and super fast, usually a few days before I expect them. Plus they have a fairly cheap expedited service if you need faster.
I’ve compared to various Chinese makers, and never found a better price for the things I’m doing (making six boards or less, and generally always being in a rush to keep my project moving).
1 Like
It really depends on the board. For tiny stuff, it’s pretty much impossible to beat OSHPark. However, for a recent fairly modest project I had a board about 2.5x3.5". OSHPark minimum for that board was $36.70 for 3 pieces. At pcbway.com, I can get 5 copies for $5. If I spring for DHL shipping it comes to $28 total and I typically have them at my door in 7 days or less.
1 Like
I found a great blog post before with a bunch of graphs showing how pricing compares on most of the prototype board companies, at what size or quantity different makers have the best pricing. Can’t find it now, but I did find PCBshopper.com which lets you input your specs and breaks down the pricing from the 25 most common prototype board makers. Looks handy, I’ll definitely play with it on my next project. Lately, I’ve on my needed fast, small boards under 2 square inches, and oshpark is my go to for that.
I went with PCBfabrication.com. $180 for 50 small PCB’s and 3 day delivery to my house.
I hate to pay that much for a proto but I do need my copper soon to meet deadlines. Hand building boards just takes way to long.
Rick
Thats really cool. Just give it a gerber file?
Personally, I don’t consider a run of 50 boards to be a prototype run. IMO, prototype = 1-3 boards or there and abouts.
If you are planning on making something commercially, I hope you realize that you just provided a Chinese company the ability to clone your product and undercut your sales if you end up producing a popular product. This happens all of the time, since the Chinese do not honor US intellectual property claims.
1 Like
Well the price between 5 and 50 was about the same. So why not?
I will need to spin in again once the firmware is done and I get some feedback from Amazon customers. I have been doing this for about 40 years and been to China, Malaysia, Mexico etc supporting production lines and designing new products. Got 5 patents, built bomb disposal robots, military vehicle and jet airplane controls, tons of telco and even FTTH testers for Verizon.
I suddenly feel like a vacuum tube era dinosaur.
All I was doing was making you aware of the risks of using Chinese pcb manufacturers. Since you have so much experience, then you are obviously willing to take those risks. Hope your project works out well!
My apologies for coming across badly.
1 Like
Allpcb.com got me 10 double sided boards in less than a week for $5. DHL delivery from China. What a deal.
1 Like