Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

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Brennn10
 
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Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 11:30 am

Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by Brennn10 »

Hey everyone,

I recently inquired Ladyada about who she used to manufacture her PCBs. She told me she uses http://www.4pcb.com/. No, this isn't a spam post. She wanted me to relay this information to this community, because if I had this question, I am guessing someone else will too!

But remember! Let them know that "Limor Fried" sent you! Adafruit Industries receives a gift certificate to various restaurants.

4PCB gives you a very quick quote, and they are super helpful. Try them out!

Thanks!
Brennn10
NGB Enterprises
http://www.instructables.com/member/Brennn10/

adafruit
 
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Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by adafruit »

you can also try my somewhat old, but still useful pcb cost calculator
http://www.ladyada.net/library/pcb/costcalc.html

felis
 
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:56 pm

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by felis »

Adv.Circuits are good for complex designs, like 8 layer boards, but too expensive for simple ones. I order 2-layer boards in China. Cheaper and better.

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unsped
 
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Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:41 pm

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by unsped »

if your a student you can get $33 single board from 4pcb, i don't know about chinese being better, there are alot of problems with via plating, trace bridging, and off center through holes with the cheaper manufacturers. plus you have to figure some social and environmental responsibility as well, 4pcb supports the local economy and does it in a socially conscious and environmentally responsible manner. you can also pay an extra $50 for multipanel from 4pcb, i've had 10 different shields produced for about $95 shipped (60 square inches) which of course isn't gold phoenix prices but i would argue that 4pcb is superior quality comparatively.

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unwiredben
 
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Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2008 2:02 pm

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by unwiredben »

I've been really happy with the PC boards that I've gotten from Seeed Studios as part of their Propaganda service. The size is limited, but large enough for an Arduino shield, but the price is great - $50 gets you ten copies of your board or $30 gets you five as long as you release your design as open source. They're double sided with soldermask and silkscreen. I did a run of the 1.1 version of my RGB LED shield with them, and I'm waiting now for the 1.3 version boards to be out of manufacturing and send over.

leeh
 
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Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:50 am

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by leeh »

Old thread, I know, but I think it's worthwhile to mention the VP service from Sunstone for casual and hobby projects. It includes solder mask and silkscreen for a more professional look, and the shape of the board can routed. The minimum trace and space is 7/7; much smaller and more useful than the services doing 8/10. The lead time is 10 days *or sooner*.

For two 1.25x1.25 boards the price is $34.38 including shipping.

Here's the link:
http://www.sunstone.com/quotevalueproto.aspx

fouran
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:01 am

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by fouran »

adafruit wrote:you can also try my somewhat old, but still useful pcb cost calculator
http://www.ladyada.net/library/pcb/costcalc.html
Hi, adafruit,
you can try this calculator http://www.micron20.com/en/orders/calculator-production
It is realy easy-to-use!

Shaos
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 9:41 pm

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by Shaos »

I was happy with pcbexpress.com for my hobby projects but couple years ago I began to order free "silver" option from them and recently I noticed that 1 or 2 years old "silver" PCBs are somehow "oxidized" (some traces and pads became a little bit black or dark-gray or sometimes white that never happened with regular "leaded" PCBs). Is it a problem of silver finish itself and I need to look for other "lead-free" option like gold or there is no any better PCB finish than old good leaded solder?...

Shaos
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 9:41 pm

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by Shaos »

Shaos wrote:I was happy with pcbexpress.com for my hobby projects but couple years ago I began to order free "silver" option from them and recently I noticed that 1 or 2 years old "silver" PCBs are somehow "oxidized" (some traces and pads became a little bit black or dark-gray or sometimes white that never happened with regular "leaded" PCBs). Is it a problem of silver finish itself and I need to look for other "lead-free" option like gold or there is no any better PCB finish than old good leaded solder?...
So, any ideas why "silver" PCBs may become "oxidized"?

felis
 
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:56 pm

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by felis »

This is not an oxide, but rather a silver sulfide, see here -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_sulfide . Here's a tip or two how to clean it -> http://ask.metafilter.com/49647/Tips-fo ... er-jewelry .

On the other hand, I never clean my (numerous) silver-coated coax connectors and they contact and solder just fine.

Shaos
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 9:41 pm

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by Shaos »

felis wrote:This is not an oxide, but rather a silver sulfide, see here -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_sulfide . Here's a tip or two how to clean it -> http://ask.metafilter.com/49647/Tips-fo ... er-jewelry .

On the other hand, I never clean my (numerous) silver-coated coax connectors and they contact and solder just fine.
OK, thanks!

fouran
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:01 am

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by fouran »

Shaos wrote:I was happy with pcbexpress.com for my hobby projects but couple years ago I began to order free "silver" option from them and recently I noticed that 1 or 2 years old "silver" PCBs are somehow "oxidized" (some traces and pads became a little bit black or dark-gray or sometimes white that never happened with regular "leaded" PCBs). Is it a problem of silver finish itself and I need to look for other "lead-free" option like gold or there is no any better PCB finish than old good leaded solder?...
Choose another Lead Free finish, HASL(Hot Air Solder Leveling) without Lead for example. It is almost as Tin/Lead, just with 15 degrees higher temeprature for soldering. No doubt "old Lead" is the best.

Shaos
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 9:41 pm

Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by Shaos »

OK, I'll try. Thanks!

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adshea
 
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Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by adshea »

I've tried a few places: Advanced Circuits, BatchPCB, GoldPhoenix, and ExpressPCB. And overall I've found that Advanced Circuits has by far the best support. They'll call you if anything doesn't look right with your board art and I'm not sure if it's standard practice for them but one of my boards had a short and they sent a replacement next day. I know they're a bit more expensive, but IMHO the customer service is more than worth it.

adafruit
 
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Re: Ladyada's Personal PCB Manufacturer!

Post by adafruit »

AdShea wrote:I've tried a few places: Advanced Circuits, BatchPCB, GoldPhoenix, and ExpressPCB. And overall I've found that Advanced Circuits has by far the best support. They'll call you if anything doesn't look right with your board art and I'm not sure if it's standard practice for them but one of my boards had a short and they sent a replacement next day. I know they're a bit more expensive, but IMHO the customer service is more than worth it.
its true!

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