PCB etching service

Lee,

I have used PCBpool with excellent results a few times:

AWEM

Wanted to suggest them too. I let make my boards there. Without solder stop mask etc, they are not so expensive. They accept Eagle or other files directly without extra charge. Good and easy online ordering, fast turnaround (at extra charge).

Nick

Thanks, hmm looks a bit pricey for what I'm doing. We used to have a service at University which would etch say a 100x100 single side board for about £5. I thought it would be the type of thing that Maplin would do pretty much over the counter if you provided the artwork...

Lee

Don't think Maplin offer any services these days.

But they (and others) sell all the bits to DIY it.

You first produce a real size transparency of the PCB - black for the tracks. Then do a contact print onto coated PCB board using UV light. Next develop the coating in a tray containing - surprisingly - developer. Then etch using ferric chloride, etc.

There are other methods, but this is the traditional way.

However, the start up costs make it probably more economical to go to a prototype place for a one off.

I make my own and adding an extra would not be a problem. But that would be when I'm actually set up to run off some - and I don't know when that will be next. For prototype use Veroboard is easier.

AFAIK Maplins don't make PCBs though they ?used to? sell the stuff needed= to=20 make them before they turned into a toy shop.

Olimex can make a one off for $33 = if=20 double sided pth is OK, otherwise they quote $26 for a single sided boar= d.

Also worth looking at RAK .

I've never used either of these suppliers but Olimex in particular does h= ave=20 their adherents so are probably worth a punt.

Hth,

--=20 Boo

They still appear to sell the bits needed.

I'm not sure using a US company would be cost effective?

Olimex? I think they are Hungarian.

Nick

Silly suggestion maybe, but the Technology department of your local secondary school or technology college might be able to help? The one I used to work had had full PCB etching facilities and the Head of Faculty would have been more than willing to make one for a reasonable donation! My current school doesn't do GCSE Electronics, but many others do.

AFAIK Maplins don't make PCBs though they ?used to? sell the stuff needed to make them before they turned into a toy shop.

Olimex can make a one off for $33 if double sided pth is OK, otherwise they quote $26 for a single sided board.

Also worth looking at RAK .

I've never used either of these suppliers but Olimex in particular does have their adherents so are probably worth a punt.

Hth,

-- Boo

The greatest difficulty I've found is getting a PCB manufacturer who can work with artwork other than that generated by a PCB cad package. RAK will take an emailed image file (perversely, we found jointly that an image pasted into a word document was the best interface!!) and create a board for you. I did not ask them to drill it as I wanted to keep the price down. Again most suppliers need a drill file from a cad package before they will drill for you.

I suspect that a 'kitchen sink' method as suggested by others will be the most cost effective for you.

Regards

Bob

AFAIK Olimex are Bulgarian ? They quote airmail shipping to Europe as follows : "Airmail parcel USD $6,00 (5-14 days)" other, much more expensive options are available.

Dunno why their prices are in USD - presumably that's where they see their market.

Cheers,

W.o.e would anyone want that ?

What were RAK like in quality terms (and to deal with), as a matter of interest ?

Possibly true, but only if your time is free. Personally I'd rather pay for the quality of a manufactured pth tinned silk-screened board rather than the dubious quality I'd be able to produce at home, especially if doing the lining by hand rather than by CAD.

There is a big learning step and overhead with converting designers used to old methods to a PCB CAD package. I learned on black tape and mylar sheet and have migrated to 'electronic' black tape using macdraw or Visio nowadays and it is still quicker for me to work this way for small jobs.

Even professionally, it will cost me many man hours to convert my older staff to CAD. It is cheaper to let them use the methods they are used to. Bright young graduates in contrast have often used a cad package at Uni and use it with ease.

Until a couple of months ago I had a PCB services lab on site at work and could get ds pth boards made in about 3 hours. but now thanks to huge expenditure needs to satisfy waste control requirements, we had to close it down and make the staff redundant.

This is why I went to RAK and they were very good to deal with.

The OP was talking of etching charges of around £5 - which led me to my comments on 'kitchen sink' methods.

Bob

Dunno why you'd do it by hand given you have a computer. I don't even use a cad prog for most things - just good ol' Acorn Draw, although I do use a later version (Millennium) with a library for my symbols.

And the results you can get are perfectly fine for anything you can assemble by hand.

rather pay

especially if

There is a nice program called PLATINCNC that will take artwork as an image (.jpg bitmap etc) and convert it into G code to CNC mill the PCB and identify all the holes and drill them. It actually works quite well despite the rather odd English used in the instructions (the author is an Austrian post grad student) I last used it to re-make gaskets for a slide valve !

AWEM

You could try KCS Electronics in Crewe:

I don't know whether it's a service they normally offer, but it's a business they are in and might be able to either do it, or point you in the right direction.

Mike.

Nice !

Good to know.

Cheers,

I saw an ad. for one on eBay the other day. IIRC their offer was for 79p per square inch plus a tenner set up costs for double sided irrespective of the number of tracks/holes etc. I didn't make a note of it as I wasn't looking for PCBs then. You can probably find it if it's still there - I don't know if that's a good price as the few PCBs I've needed I've made myself

Pete

p.s. no, it's not my eBay ad.

Acorn Draw was/is a damned fine program for diagrams. I've never found anything as easy and effective for the PC.

You can of course run most of these RISC OS programs on a PC using an emulator.