Build a Custom-Printed Circuit Board(spectrum.ieee.org)
spectrum.ieee.org
Build a Custom-Printed Circuit Board
http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/build-a-customprinted-circuit-board
5 comments
I can recommend ExpressPCB, PCBExpress, and Sierra Circuits ProtoExpress ( http://www.protoexpress.com/ ) here. ProtoExpress, in particular, was pretty good in terms of price, specs (minimum trace/space, hole size, ability to do 4-layer boards), and turnaround time. If you want to do something super-simple, ExpressPCB (http://www.expresspcb.com/) is a PCB prototyping house that has their own free Windows CAD tool you can use. You can only use designs from that tool with them, but they have at least been around a few years, and should suffice for many simple, low-volume projects.
If you're paying $75/each for PCBs, even in hobbyist quantities, you're paying too much. I even wrote a calculator, it is handy!@ http://www.ladyada.net/library/pcb/costcalc.html
Looks useful -- how about extending the calculator with a four-layer option? That's where things start to get pricy, it seems.
Cool! MOSIS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSIS) for PCBs.
Although I remember fabricating a couple in the '70s by hand, although not hardly as fancy or with such fine details (you lay out your pattern on the board with stickers and/or a pen of the right sort and then bathe it in an etching solution that removes the copper that's not covered).
I think some people are also doing 2 layer boards using milling machines to remove the copper.
Although I remember fabricating a couple in the '70s by hand, although not hardly as fancy or with such fine details (you lay out your pattern on the board with stickers and/or a pen of the right sort and then bathe it in an etching solution that removes the copper that's not covered).
I think some people are also doing 2 layer boards using milling machines to remove the copper.
Yeah, you can still do pretty well nowadays with photo-etching pre-sensitized boards. Here's Abe Lincoln (and a legitimate circuit) I did a while back: http://i.imgur.com/PyLyn.jpg
And PCB isolation routing! I've tried it with broken drill bits as mills and the Eagle to G-code software. It worked ok but I couldn't figure out DIY solder masks.
And PCB isolation routing! I've tried it with broken drill bits as mills and the Eagle to G-code software. It worked ok but I couldn't figure out DIY solder masks.
I've had good experiences with Futurlec (http://futurlec.com/PCBService.shtml). I believe the PCBs ship from Thailand so don't expect fast delivery (unless you pay for courier service), but the quality for the price is good (and their other stuff is cheap too).
BatchPCB is slow, from what I hear. I can recommend barebones PCB (speed) and Gold Phoenix (price). There's lots of fun to be had in board-making; Sparkfun tutorials are a great place to start for learning schematics and layout in Eagle if you're interested.
+1 for Gold Phoenix. I've used them before for an order of ~250 4 layer PCBs and their work was pretty good for the price I paid.
+1 for Eagle as well. They have (had? I haven't checked in a while) a free version which is fantastic for beginners and to just toy around.
+1 for Eagle as well. They have (had? I haven't checked in a while) a free version which is fantastic for beginners and to just toy around.