PCB Printing & Etching
Manufacturing Service
Do you have a PCB design you need prototyping quickly and accurately? Is it a One-off or short run?
OR... Do you have a PCB
layout you need making into a PCB?
I can do this for you using the
equipment I bought to make my own boards. This produces a PCB by Dry Film Photoresist, drilling the appropriate holes and cutting out the board outline with
a Dremel Precision Workstation. I use ferric chloride solution to melt away the copper to form
the traces, leaving areas of copper to form the traces. I can
read standard Eagle PCB files / Gerber files or even just hand made jpg files for very simple
circuits.
I am able to offer this service at a very competitive price, my service is aimed at the amateur/enthusiast or small businesses that doesn't have the space to do it themselves. Having bought all the equipment to do this delicate process I thought I would share my skill to help other enthusiasts without the time or budget. (or perhaps don't want the mess either)
I am not competing with the "Big
Boys" in this area - I just want to offer a convenient, affordable, UK-based
service. If you want fully finished, solder-masked, silk printed boards, there
are plenty of Chinese companies who will offer this service (at a significant cost!)
I am only offering single sided boards at the moment but can offer a few prices depending on how big your board is and depending on you needing tin plating to finish the board. (Double sided boards will be getting added soon once the equipment has arrived so keep an eye out for new products added soon!)
I also offer the board without
drill holes for a cheaper price as many people can already drill the board
themselves.
Through hole
plating will be an option soon!!
Board sizes are as follows (when ordering please choose the size matches or is larger than the one you require):
First 8cm x 5cm x 1.6mm FR4 board £20
Each additional 8cm x 5cm x 1.6mm board £10
First 16cm x 10cm x 1.6mm FR4 board £25
Each additional 100 x 70 x 1.5 mm board £12
First 22cm x 10cm x 1.6mm FR4 board £30
Each additional 100 x 70 x 1.5 mm board £15
Tin Plating Service Add £10 for the first board and £5 for each additional board
Postage is FREE to the UK - Overseas
shipping is £1.50
Production time is
approximately 3-5 days from order, every thing is sent out using 1st class Signed For Royal
Mail
There are a few technical rules
that you need to follow for this process to work, they are as follows:
Some design tips...
* Make sure your pads are as big
as possible and tracks as wide as possible.
* Tracks below 0.3mm (12mil) wide don't
etch too well. Below 0.2mm they may disappear altogether!
* Very small SMDs can be a problem
but amateurs and enthusiasts generally don't use the extremely tiny components you
see on some devices.
I can produce any
shape of board including cut-outs. Please
note – the board is cut using a Dremel so the finished cut is always
dependant on my hand skills.
Currently, I can drill holes 0.5mm,
0.6mm, 0.7mm, 0.8mm, 0.9mm,1.0mm, 1.1mm, 1.2mm, 1.3mm, 1.4mm,
1.5mm, 1.6mm, 1.8mm, 2.0mm, 2.1mm, 2.3mm, 2.5mm, 2.75mm and 3mm diameter.
Holes larger than 3mm are best drilled by you when you get the board.
Track separation is typically 0.2mm to 0.3mm
Board material is standard 1.6mm FR4 type, it has a positive photo resist pre-applied and is MicroTrak branded.
The results really are good.
Please bear in mind that this is not a multi-million pound machine process and
it does have its limitations. For example, very fine tracks and pads can be
problematic, so try to design your boards with tracks and pads that are as
thick as possible.
I
hope I have covered everything, if not then please send a question over.
If something you need isn't covered then please send a request and I will reply with a customised quote.