Can anyone recommend a cheap, easy to deal with PCB manufacturer?

[technotronix]

Are you looking for Chinese manufacturer or US manufacturer? Or any other?

[clack]

Hi all!

So, I'm fed up with spilling chemicals everywhere, and am looking to get PCBs professionally made.  I'm based in the UK, but am happy to use any manufacturer who'd have no problem dealing with my order.  My requirements are as follows - any recommendations from you fine people would be most gratefully received:

Turnaround time - not important, but preferably in the order of weeks rather than months
Cheap to order very low volumes from (in the order of < 5 boards at a time, and maybe even 1 or 2)
Fine tolerances not important - just doing simple double-sided boards, mostly through-hole and larger surface mount components
Need to be able to drill additional holes for heatsinks etc.
Would like soldermask.

Thanks ever so much for your help, guys 

Being in the UK and only wanting 1-2 I would reccomend Ragworm, its a front for Stickleback PCB. Turnaround is suposedly 7 working days, at the moment i get about 9-10 working days though! Quality is good, gold plated, double layer, 1.6mm , silkscreen is ok not super fine a bit inconsistent, standard clearance rules. Price is great if you only want say a 30x60 board you can order just 1 and it would be £12 inc delivery if you want big or multiples its ££££ a chinese manufacturer would be better (use PCBshopper). I mainly use it because when I order 5 boards then find an error I have to bin them all! so I basically use it as the replacment for home etching.

http://ragworm.eu/

[dtf]

www.allpcb.com

if you are used to making your own boards you will be amazed at the time you've been wasting.

[ohdsp]

I would second DirtyPCB, even if you only want 1 or 2 PCBs the price for a protopack is cheap and they might make nice coasters?

Quality of 2 and 4 layer boards is very good.

[james_s]

I've been using smart-prototyping.com for a few years now, never had any issues with them. The boards are reasonably good quality and tend to get produced in a few days.  You can pay for fast shipping if you're impatient but I usually take the cheap route and get my boards in about 3 weeks.

[donotdespisethesnake]

http://pcbshopper.com/ is quite useful for a quick look, they don't have every site (there must be thousands), but they also have a rating. Ratings can be gamed, but for the sites I am familiar with the ratings look right.

[frozenfrogz]

I can no longer recommend Aisler. Somewhere something went terribly wrong with those guys. Bad people, bad karma. Stay away.

[stmdude]

I ever tried jlcpcb.com. only cost 2$, 10pcs, and Arrived in good time.

That's fascinating, considering that just 24 hours ago, you posted and asked if anyone has tried jlcpcb. In fact all (2) of your posts have been about jlcpcb...  Suspicious at best.

In fact, I _am_ a customer of JLCPCB already (and not the cheap $2 boards either), and unless I see a reasonable explanation, your "marketing" here just lost you a customer.

[gnif]

I ever tried jlcpcb.com. only cost 2$, 10pcs, and Arrived in good time.

That's fascinating, considering that just 24 hours ago, you posted and asked if anyone has tried jlcpcb. In fact all (2) of your posts have been about jlcpcb...  Suspicious at best.

In fact, I _am_ a customer of JLCPCB already (and not the cheap $2 boards either), and unless I see a reasonable explanation, your "marketing" here just lost you a customer.

I banned the account, it was even registered using a jlcpcb.com email address. Obviously a disreputable company... personally I will steer very clear of them.

[mrpackethead]

I don't know if a New Zealand firm is too far away for you but I'll mention them anyhow: I've been using PCBZone/Circuit Labs (pcbzone.net) since I heard about them here on eevblog. I am really happy with the results - I've put about ten jobs through and cannot fault them.

I received my last job only a few hours ago; it was sent on Monday and had it not been for DHL stuffing up I would have had it yesterday. Their turnaround time is generally pretty quick and pricing is reasonable.

Interestingly, i'm in New Zealand, but they dont' even come close to beating the price/time factor of buying out of china.

[racemaniac]

For anything non-complicated I'd recommend http://dirtypcbs.com at only $14 for 10 boards (50x50 mm) and $25 for 10 boards (100x100 mm), regular HASL. +$15 for ENIG. +$29 for fast DHL shipping (Also free Hong Kong Airmail if you are willing to wait 14-30 days).

At least I'm happy with what I got.

can also confirm that .
i've been making small 2 layer pcb's (but with lots on them, going right down to the finest traces, vias, ... they allow), and had great results so far .
Also being allowed to panelize them for free with mousebites when it's 2 layer is awesome . plenty of boards to experiment on for hardly any money at all.
After placing the order, it takes about a month for the boards to reach europe, not too bad .
I also love how they give you no hassle at all. My first board with them (i was a beginner), had vias that were too small. They just manufactured it, no questions asked, not sure if they just went beyond their specs and used a smaller drill or so, but i got fully working boards .

[Ice-Tea]

Uhm, very old thread and stuff. I'm guessing the OP has moved on or, possibly, died in the meantime. Lord knows enough time has passed...

[MrAureliusR]

For anything non-complicated I'd recommend http://dirtypcbs.com at only $14 for 10 boards (50x50 mm) and $25 for 10 boards (100x100 mm), regular HASL. +$15 for ENIG. +$29 for fast DHL shipping (Also free Hong Kong Airmail if you are willing to wait 14-30 days).

At least I'm happy with what I got.

I can't believe DirtyPCB wasn't mentioned sooner in the thread. 10 10cmx10cm boards SHIPPED to Canada for under $30. TEN BOARDS! And they are IMMACULATE! They do rush orders too, but they arrived in less than 10 days if I remember correctly. As far as price they can't be beat. I will never use any other PCB manufacturer! Plus you are helping support Ian at Dangerous Prototypes, which is awesome.