Low-cost PCB house offering matte black soldermask?

[ebastler]

I would like to have a small batch of PCBs (10 to 20)  produced with matte, black soldermask. That's for cosmetic reasons only; it is not actually a circuit board but a front panel, which should combine silver accents and white lettering on a matte black background.

This is a hobby project, and I'm cheap... Are you aware of any low-cost PCB houses who offer matte black soldermask?

[mikeselectricstuff]

www.pcbcart.com
http://www.safe-pcb.com

[TassiloH]

www.elecrow.com (Matte Black is a 15$ surcharge, e.g. 5pcs 100x100 is 20$).

[ebastler]

Thank you both! I had not been aware of pcbcart and safe-pcb. They are probably both a notch above the very-low-cost Chinese suppliers, both quality and price-wise. safe-pcb quotes €106 for 10 boards (6*16 cm²), and pcbcart $106. The better quality may be worth the extra cost; I do want the surfaces and the silkscreen to look good.

On the other hand, Elecrow's price is really tempting at $42! I had known them, of course, but it had not occurred to me that they would do exotic finishes... The $15 surcharge seems reasonable, and -- different from the other Chinese vendors I have tried -- they don't seem to charge extra for lead-free HASL. (Since the front panels get touched a lot, I would want a lead-free surface there.)

So, thank you for the great suggestions. Time to ponder now whether I want to give Elecrow a try, or go with one of the upper-tier offers...

[rea5245]

Check out PCBShopper.com. It's a price comparison site for PCBs and it offers the option of black matte solder masks.

Disclosure: I run the site.

- Bob Alexander
  PCBShopper.com

[ebastler]

Check out PCBShopper.com. It's a price comparison site for PCBs and it offers the option of black matte solder masks.
Disclosure: I run the site.

Hey, thanks -- so matte black must not be quite as exotic as I thought, if others want to search for it as well! ;-)

I did just enter my requirements on PCBshopper.com, and strangely it tells me that Elecrow can only do green soldermask. Maybe Elecrow have changed their API and don't give you the full story anymore? Please have a look occasionally; based on the other options that were listed, Elecrow seems to be the lowest cost vendor for matte black PCBs at the moment.

[rea5245]

I did just enter my requirements on PCBshopper.com, and strangely it tells me that Elecrow can only do green soldermask.

Thanks for catching that. It looks like Elecrow recently added black matte as an option. I've modified PCBShopper to match.

- Bob

[dino]

https://www.pcbway.com

[noras]

Elecrow
PCBWay
Smart Prototyping
4pcb
pcbcart

[warren521]

I am a new user of this site.
I see a lot of people recommend low-cost PCB houses that offer matt black solder masks. I wonder if you have chosen one of them?
WellPCB also offers matt black, and 9 solder mask colors are free.

[katy201607]

Elecrow
PCBway
Smart Prototyping
4pcb
pcbcart
PCBGOGO

[ebastler]

Thank you all again for many great suggestions. PCB suppliers mentioned so far were:

Elecrow
safe-pcb
PCBway
Smart Prototyping
4pcb
pcbcart
PCBGOGO
WellPCB (who also do matt blue and matt red, if that's your thing).

PCBshopper knows about quite a few of these and will give comparative pricing quickly. The surcharge for non-standard solder mask or surface treatment does vary quite a bit between suppliers, so checking a few prices is worthwhile.

I still have not ordered my front panels yet -- still checking whether I might need any further design changes. (There is a companion PCB which actually has some functionality, and I am currently evaluating the first prototype of that one. Will order the front panels as soon as I am sure that I don't need any extra buttons or indicators...)

[Inverted18650]

https://jlcpcb.com/

drag & drop your gerber here to play with colors:  https://gerber-viewer.easyeda.com/