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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Small batch PCB prototyping
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haiqu Senior Member  Joined: 30/07/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 152 |
Just discovered this useful website: DorkBot They do batches of small PCBs and the prices are very reasonable, especially if the area of the board is small. $5.00 per square inch gets you 3 copies of the board, plus $5.00 for regular postage from the USA. This even beats some of the Asian manufacturers if you only want small lots. And they're purple! Rob unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep |
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| Ray B Senior Member Joined: 16/02/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 219 |
Except for the long delay I'd expect with "regular postage from the USA" this looks like a good deal. Site also seems to accept both Eagle or DIPTrace artwork formats which leads into a comparison of the best / simplist free PCB design program to use. COMMENTS.... I understand Silicon Chip in September will be doing an article on Eagle but mine is yet to be delivered to confirm that fact. What I'd like to see on the forum is some sharing of artwork maybe especially for some of the none commercial add-on boards that I expect to be seeing in the future for MM. RayB from Perth WA |
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donmck Guru  Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
Page 101 September: Coming next month: CadSoft Eagle PCB Design Software. 
Held over due to space restraints. Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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VK6MRG Guru Joined: 08/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 347 |
I have been using Express PCB' free software to design my own add-on PCB's for the maximite and an improved powered hub based on Rohan’s design. After I get a few made for testing and verify that the designs are good. Then I'll publish the PCB files with a story of what they are used for.  Its easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission! ............VK6MRG.............VK3MGR............ |
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| ajkw Senior Member Joined: 29/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 290 |
Off topic but Ah Ha, somebody else who doesn't have their Sept Silicon Chip yet. I was beginning to think the postie had lost mine. Cheers. |
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vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
The only thing which keeps me in Eagle is their relative huge library of components with accurate footprints, including the real dimensions of the case of the component. From the open source zone I see KiCAD much superior and gEDA PCB very good as well but you need accurate boards and that come from the component dimensions. Though, KiCAD can import Eagle components and boards thanks to an Eagle script. From the commercial zone I like very much DipTrace for easy to use and a nice PCB software, better than KiCAD. It have a limitation of 300 pads per board as free software but no size limitation and that's great. It also have scripts for importing schematics and components form Eagle. So, the conclusion is, make your schematic on Eagle, choose the right components and, if the board is bigger than what you are allowed to have, import your project on DipTrace and you will have also your components as designed in Eagle = accurate board made in a pleasant way (if you did that in Eagle, you know what I mean). As for PCB fab houses, why is DorkBot better than SeeedStudio? Vasi Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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| haiqu Senior Member Joined: 30/07/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 152 |
I find Eagle CAD to be pretty abysmal actually. They have very poor support for metric and the snap grid switches back to imperial units whenever you go to create a new component, even when you edit their config files to tell it not to do that. Their library is also full of really old parts, so I have to create new profiles for almost everything. I'd rate it as marginally better than Protel, but that isn't saying much. SeeedStudio? I've never heard of them and wasn't doing comparisons with every PCB manufacturer on the planet. However their big feature is no setup costs, which is the big factor in most small run facilities. And of course the purple boards, I mean that has to be a good reason. Regular mail from the US is certainly slow, but then again I'm getting 30 day delivery from Honkers too, so there isn't much difference there. Rob unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep |
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| vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
Here you have the details: Fusion PCB Service And there you can select different board sizes (your board must fit in one of these - it can be smaller but not wider than the chosen dimension). You pay the service and receive 10 boards. Vasi Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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| haiqu Senior Member Joined: 30/07/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 152 |
I just checked using the Maximite as an example. It's 6.8 x 12.4 which means the minimum standard size has to be 10 x 15cm. That adds $60.00 to the order right away and I can't order less than 10-off. It also costs $5.00 extra for lead-free (standard with DorkBot) and I can't see shipping charges anywhere (and I don't like surprises at the checkout!) I'm sure they have a market but I can do better than that in Asia. Rob unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep |
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| vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
Is China... Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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| haiqu Senior Member Joined: 30/07/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 152 |
Doesn't surprise me, those are typical Chinese prices and minimums. On DorkBot I could order 3-off of a board 2 sq. in. and it would cost me $2.00 for the PCBs plus $5.00 postage. Ten units at a time might be a prototype run if you're planning to make thousands, but it's too many for me. If I could get one-off quantities somewhere I'd buy it. I have to say that it sure beats making the damned things by hand though. I do it so infrequently that all my chemicals go off by the time I'm ready to use them again. It was worse when ferric chloride was the etchant, the rotten stuff stains anything it comes in contact with, and I never did know where to dispose of it. I started off making boards with a small paint brush and bitumenous paint. Bleugh. Rob unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep |
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| vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
I started with red nail polish and nitric acid. What etchant you use when you use? Vasi Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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| haiqu Senior Member Joined: 30/07/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 152 |
Originally ferric chloride, the last few times I used ammonium perchlorate. It's much faster. Red nail polish? Ewww. Rob unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep |
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