Like itead/seeed but faster?

[8086]

Does anyone know of a service like itead or seeed's 2 layer pcb service that ships faster but is still low cost?

Doesn't have to match, obviously, but reasonably priced.

Cheers

[AndyC_772]

Try ABL Circuits:

http://www.ablcircuits.co.uk/

[8086]

Thanks. Do you have any idea of their price range? I don't see any prices on their website, and the quote system doesn't seem to be functioning.

[AndyC_772]

Sorry, no - best give them a call.

[8086]

Okay, thanks. 

[ecat]

Ooh, let us know how this goes?

[Jon Chandler]

ITead and Seeed fab the boards reasonably fast - it's the shipping that slows the process.  If you opt for (and pay for) DHL shipping, it takes about 3 days delivery to the US.

The higher cost shipping option is reasonable if you're getting several boards made at a time.

[8086]

I'm not sure why really, but I'm wary of even DHL shipping from China...

Also, am I going mad, or is seeed only offering 5 boards for $9.90 now where they used to offer 10? itead appears to be offering 10 for $9.90. Strange.

[daveatol]

Also, am I going mad, or is seeed only offering 5 boards for $9.90 now where they used to offer 10? itead appears to be offering 10 for $9.90. Strange.

It's the same price for 5 or 10 pcbs at the smallest size. At larger sizes, the prices change accordingly for each quantity as you'd expect.

[Codemonkey]

You could try this guy http://www.hackvana.com/store/

He recently posted on the Kicad mailing list, here's a snippet from his mail:

My name is Mitch, I'm a KiCad user, and my company is Hackvana. I
moved to Shenzhen China two years ago to be where the electronics
action is.

I'm sorry I'm not in the price range you suggested, because I'm CHEAPER.

I specialise in small orders for students, open source projects, and
boutique engineering houses. For example, I can provide you with 10
boards of up to 5x5cm, 100% e-tested, with double-sided solder mask
and silkscreen, for USD19 including shipping.

I've not used him yet but plan to with a small board I'm working on.

(Not affiliated with him in any way other than we're both kicad users!)

[mikeselectricstuff]

I'm not sure why really, but I'm wary of even DHL shipping from China...

DHL is absolutely fine from China, and for those rare shipments  that do attract duty/VAT, they have very low handling fees compared to Fedex/UPS/Parcelforce.

[Spikee]

I used dhl shipping before and it is fast!
No extra fee's from dhl , only normal tax (21% here).

If you have a DHL business account you might get a cheaper shipping deal.

[westfw]

Any recommendations for a supplier of rather large but very simple boards?
I was thinking of trying to build a mini Wimshurst-style electrostatic machine using PCBs as the rotors.
(It would be a reasonable candidate for home fabrication, but I was really hoping to use the soldermask and silkscreen as "corona dope.") 
https://plus.google.com/photos/103342639718054305536/albums/4993082415751168017/5314000962550769074?banner=pwa

[ve7xen]

I haven't used them, but Gold Phoenix has one of the best per sqin prices I've seen for low quantity boards, a flat rate $110 for a 155sqin panel or $100 for 100sqin. They will route your panelized boards for you, but you pay extra if there is more than one design on the panel or if you have complex router paths.

http://www.goldphoenixpcb.com/singlepage.php?tg=specialprice

[Falcon69]

I bought some boards from Sitopway on eBay.  Kevin seems like a pretty nice guy.  The boards are actually pretty good.  I watched the segment that Dave posted where he compared the two different manufacturers he was using.  I'd say Sitopway's boards were on the better side of that video.  The silk screen leaves little to desire though, it's not bad, but when using 3 point font size or less, it's hard to read.

The boards are pretty good though, and Sitopway is very reasonable on price. I just ordered some from TedChen. I'll see how those fair. Hopefully his boards are just as good, but silk screen is better.

When I say boards are pretty good, the vias/through holes are pretty centered, no defects in traces that I noticed, and they go all the way down to 6mil on traces/spaces.  They do all colors masking, gold plating, etc. Like the bigger manufacturers.

Sitopway also sells stainless steel stencils with frame ($40) or without ($20).  Very reasonable.  I'd suggest spending the $40.  The stencils with the frame are much easier to work with, than the ones without.  Sitopway also got me my boards in less than a week from the date I ordered them.

I just ordered a board size with 6 different designs in the following format:
A Design = 1 piece
B Design = 1 piece
C Design = 1 piece
D Design = 7 piece
E Design = 5 piece
F Design = 12 piece

All those pieces layed out in about a 4"x6" board size.  Sitopway charged me about $140 (including the $20 stencil) for 10 boards.  They sent 2 extra boards.  It's expensive, but It's a bigger board size with 6 designs.  Sadly though, I screwed those boards up.  What a waste of $140.  I forgot to connect the trace for the power in of the screw terminal, to the fuse on the board.  LOL.  Oh well, live and learn.  Make sure, double check, that your stuff is ready for production.

It seems that all the manufacturers charge extra, alot extra, if you have multiple designs in one board. But, you get the savings because you only need to buy one stencil.

[thm_w]

It seems that all the manufacturers charge extra, alot extra, if you have multiple designs in one board. But, you get the savings because you only need to buy one stencil.

Yeah. I guess there is a bit of NRE to choose tab points on multiple designs, but I can't see it being that much more than a panelized single design.

Myro used to allow multiple designs (6+) for minimal fee. Then one order someone must have caught on, and held up an order. Had to route it manually because the price increase was a joke ($500+?).