re:getting pro circuit boards created for $

[alchemist]

hello,

a friend of mine has recently protyped a vibrato pedal which is his original design, however it would be intensely laborious to do a point to point wiring of the circuit since it is an elaborate design.

My friend wants to release and sell it (the pedal) How much does it cost to have a circuit board professionally done? does anyone have any leads to professional manafactures who do it cheap?

why don't we make our own circuit board? well we haven't before and since its quite elaborate, it wouldn't be a good one to start with

any help would be greatly appreciated -josh

[MartyB]

Check out :


www.expresspcb.com



MartyB

[80k]

a lot of peole have enjoyed goin with ExpressPCB.  i have used one of their boards and it was very nice.  but they only allow you to use their software.  

if you use your own software like Eagle (from cadsoft), you'd have to choose a different company.

you might want to try www.olimex.com.  they have very good prices.

[Mark Hammer]

There are a number of software/etching services that advertise in mags like Nuts and Volts.  When we had a gathering at my house last autumn, Harry Bissell came up from Detroit and brought his homebrew hexaphonic guitar synth/processor which had boards he had produced through one of these services, and they....were....gorgeous.

A number of services seemto be able to provide boards for under $10 a pop if it is simple enough (i.e., one layer of traces). Not sure if this includes legending on the component side, though.

[Jay Doyle]

http://www.futurlec.com/PCBService.shtml

Best deal I can find.

[Peter Snowberg]

I've used ExpressPCB for their Mini-Boards and Production service. Sweet boards.

They have their own free CAD software (download it today) and it will tell you up front exactly what the cost will be. It's decent layout software, but I need to change the display colors or else I'm cross-eyed in 5 minutes. They use red/green which is.... ahem..... high contrast.  :|

The solder mask was thick, the etching was precise, the plating was thick, and the registration of the drills and masks has been great and very consistent.

I've dealt with a number of board houses and for the stuff we're all doing here, ExpressPCBs output is easily as good as the best I've ever seen.

The secret with getting boards done is all in quantity. As an example:

If you can fit the circuit in 2 x 3 inches, in California (incl. tax) a "Production Service" (2 side, plated holes, 2 side solder masks, 1 side silkscreen) run will cost:

$32.72 a piece if you get 10 ($327.22 total investment)
$17.50 a piece if you get 20 ($350.01 total investment)
$7.51 a piece if you get 50 ($375.32 total investment)
$4.59 a piece if you get 100 ($459.00 total investment)
$3.72 a piece if you get 150 ($556.85 total investment)
$3.28 a piece if you get 200 ($656.71 total investment)
$2.11 a piece if you get 500 ($1152.40 total investment)
$2.02 a piece if you get 1000 ($2013.72 total investment)

imagine Boss with zillions!

That shows you their curve pretty well.

They also have a proto service called mini-boards that will give you three 3.8 x 2.5 boards for $66.65 in California (tax incl.). They have no mask or silkscreen, but they are plated hole two sided boards with a lead/tin solder coating.

Good luck on going into production! I can't wait to hear what this new circuit sounds like!

-Peter

[Peter Snowberg]

I just did a couple price comparisons between Futurlec and ExpressPCB for smaller than 50 quantities of 2 sided with silkscreen and soldermask. Futurlec wins hands down. I'm amazed at the low quantity prices!!!!!

Thank you Jay! too bad I don't have ProTel.

For two sided production of 50 pieces or more, ExpressPCB wins.

-Peter

[alchemist]

thanks for all the leads on the circuit board manafacturing companies.This forum is worth its weight in gold....!!!

-josh[/b]

[80k]

Futurlec is great prices but i don't use Protel either.

So far, the one i have decided to go with for our trem pedal is www.APCircuits.com.

Olimex is cheaper for lower quantities, but once you start making 10 or more boards, it comes out cheaper to go with Apcircuits.

the thing i like about them is their pricing scheme.  you pay a setup fee and then pay per square inch after that.  and so any quantity X the size of it is all priced per square inch, and they will cut it up for you.

of course if you want to do like 2 different PCB's, you should panelize it, so that you can pay one setup fee and then pay per square inch for both PCB's combined.  and then you get a bunch of boards with 2 circuits on it, and you just break each one in half.