low cost PCB manufacturing

[Francesco Poderico]

Hi all,
Who do you use to manufacture your PCB in UK?
I have tried pcbtrain for low quantities, do you have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Francesco

 

[TTman]

PCBCART.COM in China.... Yes, i know, not in the UK but top service that I
have used for a few years now.
Savings of 50%+ are easy, even with Fedex/UPS shipping and customs
clearance. You will have to pay VAT up front as well.

 

[DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno]

We used to use PCBCART but their area rate went up a lot a while back,
so we switched to PCBWING on a recommendation from an associate and
haven't looked back. Setup cost is very much the same, area rate is
way lower (and is NOT variable-with-quantity), the only downsides
compared to pcbcart is the 50% setup on repeats (vs 0% @ pcbcart).

Quality out of both these Chinese fabs is as good as we have seen from
anyone.

We are not allowed to use foreign fab shops. Especially not a
non-ally.

We are allowed to buy certain foreign made things, like USB cables and
such. Even that can be frowned upon in some programs.

Made in house, a custom USB cable costs hundreds each, especially if it
gets a part number, and has to be fabricated in house or by contract
thereafter.

That is a simple example.

 

[Syd Rumpo]

Hi all,
Who do you use to manufacture your PCB in UK?
I have tried pcbtrain for low quantities, do you have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Francesco

I've used http://www.alrpcbs.co.uk/ and found them cheaper than
PCBtrain. No quality issues, good service.

Cheers

 

[mkr5000]

search this ebay seller -- malauid

just got some incredible boards from him and I palletized which some won't allow.

10pcs of a 4" x 4" for 40 bucks and free shipping

 

[mkr5000]

I just saw that "not allowed to use foreign shops" -- really? I see you're in UK

I guess they must regulate that in the postal service? I like smart Government but
you learn something every day.

 

[mkr5000]

by the way, who IS an ally these days?

 

[John Devereux]

I just saw that "not allowed to use foreign shops" -- really? I see
you're in UK

The person who wrote that is not in the UK. The OP is.

 

[John Devereux]

by the way, who IS an ally these days?

"an ally" of who? This is an international newsgroup. What is it with
all the context-less posts? Nobody has any idea who you are replying to,
including yourself it would seem.

 

[P E Schoen]

"mkr5000" wrote in message

search this ebay seller -- malauid

just got some incredible boards from him and I palletized which some won't
allow.

10pcs of a 4" x 4" for 40 bucks and free shipping

I couldn't find them on eBay or a web search. But I did find this:
http://www.custompcb.com/

I have a small 1.75" x 1.20" PCB and their "instant quote" was for a minimum
of 100 square inches or 48 pieces with $75 setup and $1.04 each and two
weeks turn. Fab is in Malaysia but the company is (or was) based in Ames,
IA.

For 5 pieces of a 4" x 6" PCB it's also $75 setup and $9 each.

Prototypes are $18/ea with 1 week turn and *panelizing* is $0.50/part.

Shipping to US is $15-$20 for 2-3 day service.

I got a quote from www.PCBcart.com for my small boards: 20 pieces 8 days for
under $120 total. 75 pieces are $0.96 each 8 days.

I also deal with www.pcbfabexpress.com who quoted 5 boards in 5 days for
$15/each.

And the company I do design work for likes www.eiconnect.com (also called
zoompcb), and they said they would match the pcbfabexpress price.

Paul

 

[DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno]

Good luck with that type of restriction.

You ain't real bright. Been doing it for decades.

Likely will for decades to come.

Gov manufacturers have contractual rules.

If one wants to keep one's job, one follows the rules. Non-compliace
means loss of contract. That means loss of jobs, usually, if not entire
businesses.

 

[[email protected]]

Hi all, Who do you use to manufacture your PCB in UK? I have tried pcbtrain for low quantities, do you have any suggestions? Thanks, Francesco

I use PCB-POOL (pcb-pool.com) in Ireland. Low cost for pcb, silkscreen, solder mask, and if you do surface mount, a free stencil. They are also known as Beta Layout.

Maurice Givens

 

[[email protected]]

Hi all, Who do you use to manufacture your PCB in UK? I have tried pcbtrain for low quantities, do you have any suggestions? Thanks, Francesco

From PCB-POOL, for 5 pieces of 4" x 6", 2 layers, FR4, 0.0629" copper, solder mask, silkscreem (both sides), electroless nickel gold, stencil, 8 working day delivery, for $42.80 ea. ($214 total cost)