Printed circuit board fabrication
 

You people have given me great advice before (grovel, grovel) so here I am
asking for some more.

I've made PCBs before but always as one-off projects using transfers and
etch resist pens. But I need to produce 50-60 now !

My requirements are very modest...single sided, a couple of 14 pin DILs and
a few other components, size around 50mm x 100mm.

Does anybody know of a reasonably priced outfit who can supply small PCBs ?
Artwork would be supplied by me. In what form is this normally required ?

Or should I go ahead get a photoresist kit and supplies ? I'm starting from
scratch here with a few working prototypes on veroboard.

Thanks all.

Printed circuit board fabrication
 

TonyL wrote:

oes anybody know of a reasonably priced outfit who can supply small PCBs ?
Artwork would be supplied by me. In what form is this normally required ?

I think I saw on the Make website recently a service that will make them
from uploadable artwork.

Daniele

Printed circuit board fabrication
 

In article ,
TonyL wrote:
You people have given me great advice before (grovel, grovel) so here I
am asking for some more.

I've made PCBs before but always as one-off projects using transfers and
etch resist pens. But I need to produce 50-60 now !

There are very much easier ways these days - by drawing out what's needed
on a computer.

My requirements are very modest...single sided, a couple of 14 pin DILs
and a few other components, size around 50mm x 100mm.

Does anybody know of a reasonably priced outfit who can supply small
PCBs ? Artwork would be supplied by me. In what form is this normally
required ?

I think I've seen firms advertising on Ebay who do small runs. Of course
that might mean 20,000...

Or should I go ahead get a photoresist kit and supplies ? I'm starting
from scratch here with a few working prototypes on veroboard.

Have a look at RS Components site for the options on small DIY production
runs.

One way is to make a transparency and use that to mask a board coated with
an emulsion then exposed to UV and develop. Then etch in the normal way.
There's now another option - you print to a special paper and iron that on
to plain PCB. Haven't tried that one yet.

--
*If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Printed circuit board fabrication
 

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
TonyL wrote:
You people have given me great advice before (grovel, grovel) so
here I am asking for some more.

I've made PCBs before but always as one-off projects using transfers
and etch resist pens. But I need to produce 50-60 now !

There are very much easier ways these days - by drawing out what's
needed on a computer.


Yes, I've got that far. For example:
http://www.freepcb.com/


I think I've seen firms advertising on Ebay who do small runs. Of
course that might mean 20,000...


I got an estimate from a company picked more or less at random. Price wasn't
bad at 1.50 UKP per board, but "tooling up" charge was nearly 100 UKP.
Actually less than I expected but I also need a smaller (around 10-20)
quantity of boards with a different layout which means £200 initial outlay.

Or should I go ahead get a photoresist kit and supplies ? I'm
starting from scratch here with a few working prototypes on
veroboard.

Have a look at RS Components site for the options on small DIY
production runs.


OK, thanks. Willdo.

One way is to make a transparency and use that to mask a board coated
with an emulsion then exposed to UV and develop. Then etch in the
normal way.


That looks the most likely option for me.

UV boxes start at around 70 UKP, though. Surely they are just boxes with UV
bulbs and maybe a timer. Any reason I can't make my own box and buy a
replacement UV bulb or two ?

There's now another option - you print to a special paper
and iron that on to plain PCB. Haven't tried that one yet.


I assume I would have to print out a fresh one for each pcb.....OTOH they
could be done as in multiple boards per sheet and seperated after the
etching is done...hmm...

Thanks for the ideas.

Printed circuit board fabrication
 

D.M. Procida wrote:
TonyL wrote:

oes anybody know of a reasonably priced outfit who can supply small
PCBs ? Artwork would be supplied by me. In what form is this
normally required ?

I think I saw on the Make website recently a service that will make
them from uploadable artwork.

Daniele


Thanks, have you got the URL ? I Googled on "make pcb uk" and nothing
relevant listed.

Printed circuit board fabrication
 

TonyL wrote:

I think I saw on the Make website recently a service that will make
them from uploadable artwork.

Thanks, have you got the URL ? I Googled on "make pcb uk" and nothing
relevant listed.

I can't find it either, sorry. I am pretty sure it was a UK service. Try
asking on uk.d-i.y.

Daniele

Printed circuit board fabrication
 

Its the bloody holes that cause the hassle usually.
Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
TonyL wrote:
You people have given me great advice before (grovel, grovel) so here I
am asking for some more.

I've made PCBs before but always as one-off projects using transfers and
etch resist pens. But I need to produce 50-60 now !

There are very much easier ways these days - by drawing out what's needed
on a computer.

My requirements are very modest...single sided, a couple of 14 pin DILs
and a few other components, size around 50mm x 100mm.

Does anybody know of a reasonably priced outfit who can supply small
PCBs ? Artwork would be supplied by me. In what form is this normally
required ?

I think I've seen firms advertising on Ebay who do small runs. Of course
that might mean 20,000...

Or should I go ahead get a photoresist kit and supplies ? I'm starting
from scratch here with a few working prototypes on veroboard.

Have a look at RS Components site for the options on small DIY production
runs.

One way is to make a transparency and use that to mask a board coated with
an emulsion then exposed to UV and develop. Then etch in the normal way.
There's now another option - you print to a special paper and iron that on
to plain PCB. Haven't tried that one yet.

--
*If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Printed circuit board fabrication
 

When you say you need two different ones, are they totally different, or
could you have both simply by having a few links on the pcb? That way, only
one tooling up cost.
Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"TonyL" wrote in message
...
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
TonyL wrote:
You people have given me great advice before (grovel, grovel) so
here I am asking for some more.

I've made PCBs before but always as one-off projects using transfers
and etch resist pens. But I need to produce 50-60 now !

There are very much easier ways these days - by drawing out what's
needed on a computer.


Yes, I've got that far. For example:
http://www.freepcb.com/


I think I've seen firms advertising on Ebay who do small runs. Of
course that might mean 20,000...


I got an estimate from a company picked more or less at random. Price
wasn't bad at 1.50 UKP per board, but "tooling up" charge was nearly 100
UKP. Actually less than I expected but I also need a smaller (around
10-20) quantity of boards with a different layout which means £200
initial outlay.

Or should I go ahead get a photoresist kit and supplies ? I'm
starting from scratch here with a few working prototypes on
veroboard.

Have a look at RS Components site for the options on small DIY
production runs.


OK, thanks. Willdo.

One way is to make a transparency and use that to mask a board coated
with an emulsion then exposed to UV and develop. Then etch in the
normal way.


That looks the most likely option for me.

UV boxes start at around 70 UKP, though. Surely they are just boxes with
UV bulbs and maybe a timer. Any reason I can't make my own box and buy a
replacement UV bulb or two ?

There's now another option - you print to a special paper
and iron that on to plain PCB. Haven't tried that one yet.


I assume I would have to print out a fresh one for each pcb.....OTOH they
could be done as in multiple boards per sheet and seperated after the
etching is done...hmm...

Thanks for the ideas.

Printed circuit board fabrication
 

In article ,
TonyL wrote:
One way is to make a transparency and use that to mask a board coated
with an emulsion then exposed to UV and develop. Then etch in the
normal way.


That looks the most likely option for me.

UV boxes start at around 70 UKP, though. Surely they are just boxes with
UV bulbs and maybe a timer. Any reason I can't make my own box and buy
a replacement UV bulb or two ?

None. Especially if you can get a couple of cheap fluorescent fittings and
get UV tubes for them.

There's now another option - you print to a special paper
and iron that on to plain PCB. Haven't tried that one yet.


I assume I would have to print out a fresh one for each pcb.....OTOH
they could be done as in multiple boards per sheet and seperated after
the etching is done...hmm...

Yes - you duplicate the layout up to the maximum number the board can take
and then cut them to size afterwards. You'd need to work out the best use
if the paper too as it's quite expensive.

Thanks for the ideas.

--
*Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Printed circuit board fabrication
 

"TonyL" wrote in message
...
You people have given me great advice before (grovel, grovel) so here I am
asking for some more.

I've made PCBs before but always as one-off projects using transfers and
etch resist pens. But I need to produce 50-60 now !

My requirements are very modest...single sided, a couple of 14 pin DILs
and a few other components, size around 50mm x 100mm.

Does anybody know of a reasonably priced outfit who can supply small PCBs
? Artwork would be supplied by me. In what form is this normally required
?

Or should I go ahead get a photoresist kit and supplies ? I'm starting
from scratch here with a few working prototypes on veroboard.


I had a PCB made up a few years back. Normally I build everything on
veroboard, but this particular job required several multi-legged surface
mount chips and there was no way I was going to be able to do that on
veroboard, nor was I going to be able to achieve anything approaching the
required accuracy with a DIY PCB. The company I found had their own PCB
design software that could be downloaded from their website. After designing
the board I uploaded the design and pretty soon afterwards the PCBs arrived
in the post. I can't at the moment remember the name of the company or how
much it cost, but it did seem good value at the time.

David.