PCB fab for 1-2 prototypes.

[Buriedcode]

Well there are many threads about 'which PCB fab house/service' to use.  For work, I use PCBway, and haven't had much experience with others.
It costs ~$50US for 10 medium sized boards (including DHL charges, delivered in 5 working days).  That's a superb price, and whilst there may be others slightly cheaper, I'm, not complaining.

BUT... if I only one one or two boards (most of my projects require one PCB) then it works out to be pretty much the same price for a one-off.  Sure I could just pay the $50, and have 9 spare.. but it is unlikely I can sell these for kits.  I'm sure many of us are in the same boat - hobby stuff too complicated to do on perfboard/stripboard, but only ever needs one board, up to maybe 100x100mm.  I have many (pushing 40) projects that required a single PCB, and stalled, and I want to start getting these done.   with 40 projects, at $50 a pop, that's a lot of money for boards where 90% will be coasters. I know I could add some adapters, but I don't really use SMT adapters anymore.

I have heard about Itead, BatchPCB and some others.. and sure many will be pleased with their service, others will slate them. I am asking specifically about one-off boards.  1 or 2 of one design, perhaps even multiple designs.  I know I can send multiple designs to panelize but I'll still end up with many boards that I'll never use, and pay for it. SO, the question..

Best place to go for 1-2off PCB's, or getting multiple PCB of different designs (only one of each).  Time is not a problem, waiting a month is fine, but cost is the main thing here.  I realise its a hassle for board houses to do one-off designs, but if I can send off 5 designs (under 100x100) and get 5 boards back in 6 weeks for under say $40 I'd be chuffed to bits.

Anyone do this regularly?

[jaromir]

If you don't mind waiting, order from the same manufacturer (or dirtypcbs, itead) and select china post delivery. Majority of the 50USD mark you have now is shipping. You'll still have 10 PCBs of the same type, but for a quarter of price or so.  Multiply the process for more designs.

Also, check this site https://pcbshopper.com/

[ajb]

Assuming you just need basic two layer 6/6 type stuff?  What's the average size of one board?

Have you looked at putting together a large panel that you can order one or two of?  Gold Phoenix offer a 155sqin (100cm^2) multi-design (10+) panel with tab routing for $160 each, with a 5 day turn.  AFAIK, they're a pretty well respected fab house, so you might be able to get an even better deal from one of the cheaper places if you're willing to take a greater risk.

[Buriedcode]

Standard 6/6 double sided, min hole size 0.3, board size ranges from 30x50 to 80x80mm. All rectangular, 1.6mm FR4 stock. Different colour soldermask would be nice, but not really that fussed./

The golden phoenix looks to be a pretty good deal, although I believe you mean 1000cm^2  which is huge (31.5x31.5cm for a square panel).  It would be nice if I could do it in stages, as in 3-4 designs at a time, although getting >10 project boards at once will keep me busy for a while.

The whole point is that I'm not paying for boards I wont' use, so unless other places do 10 boards for $5, I'll keep looking.

[741]

I'm sure I once saw what you wanted from ITEAD - but I cannot find it now. From memory, the text specifically mentioned the fact that often one needs only 1 or two boards. Again from memory, the page contained the text "...people say wow, amazing...". I've just done some searches for that, and no luck.

But - how about 5 boards for $25? If PCBWAY (https://www.pcbway.com/pcb_prototype/) are to be believed, that is what 5 designs cost. Sure they send you 10 of each, but at that price (if the quality is good that is), why worry?

"10 pcs 2 Layers PCB Prototype US $5.00" is what they actually advertise.

[Buriedcode]

I'm sure I once saw what you wanted from ITEAD - but I cannot find it now. From memory, the text specifically mentioned the fact that often one needs only 1 or two boards. Again from memory, the page contained the text "...people say wow, amazing...". I've just done some searches for that, and no luck.

But - how about 5 boards for $25? If PCBWAY (https://www.pcbway.com/pcb_prototype/) are to be believed, that is what 5 designs cost. Sure they send you 10 of each, but at that price (if the quality is good that is), why worry?

"10 pcs 2 Layers PCB Prototype US $5.00" is what they actually advertise.

As I said in the OP, I currently use PCBway.  And again, $25 for a single 30x40mm board is a bit expensive (because I won't be using the other 4).  I was worried this thread might turn into a "yes but you can get 10 for xx!" because PCB manufacturer threads generally do.  And if I have 20 boards to be made up, thats $500 total, with 180 PCB's left over..

I will however check out itead.  Also https://www.elecrow.com/pcb-prototyping.html has 4-layer boards for very reasonable prices - I don't think I'll need 4-layer but still nice to see it available.

[texaspyro]

Even if you only need 1 board, getting 3-10 boards is no big deal.  For low volumes, the setup costs dominate the price.

OSHPARK will give you three boards for $5 / square inch.  That is a great price for small boards, but once the board size gets over a few square inches the price can far exceed what you can get from China. 

For the last board I did, I could get over 50 boards from China (I usually use gojgo.com) for what OSHPARK charges for 3 boards.  And with DHL 3 day shipping, I get them a week faster.  DHL shipping usually runs around 1/3 of the board price.

A place called https://jlcpcb.com runs an ad on the forum for some dirt cheap boards (five 100x100 mm boards for $2.00... insane!)  I've heard they do good work. 

[741]

My apologies, I forgot PCBWAY are the board house who you use already.

I think the cost is hidden in the postage. If the boards are only costing you $5, I would have thought a cheaper, non-insured/non-tracked service would suffice.

I've noticed ITEAD offer "Registered air mail" as an option - but add appropriate warnings that this is somewhat riskier (https://www.itead.cc/shipping).

They show an example "SF e-Parcel" to USA for $11. I think I'd need to enter an order to see the GB prices.

[marshallh]

For 1-5 protos, Macrofab can't be beat. However, they scale very poorly above that.

[Just4Fun]

Hi,
my 2 cents...

ELECROW, 5pcs 2-layer PCB service max 100x100mm. About 11$ including cheapest shipping. About 15-21 days elapsed from the order to PCBs in my hand (last batch took 15 days).

I'm currently using their service.

[Simon]

PCB manufacturing is always dominated by tooling costs and shipping for a one off. Spirit circuits in the UK do a fixed tooling charge (50 quid last time I used them) and then £1/sq inch, I think the service was called snap PCB but i can't find it on their website

[Mattylad]

Fusion PCB will make you some double sided boards a lot cheaper than that, depending upon the size, yes you get 10 but you can just consider the other 9 as spares or packing - you do not have to use them.

https://www.seeedstudio.com/fusion_pcb.html

And if I have 20 boards to be made up, thats $500 total, with 180 PCB's left over..

Now your getting ridiculous! You just order 2 batches of 10, in fact ISTR you can get the 2nd batch cheaper by sharing the first one.

I'm sure there was a discussion here similar where $2 was all the boards cost.

[741]

It looks like Elecrow are good value, any colour as well. Are you able to post close-up photos of some example boards please?

One 'plus' with ITEAD is they allow you to self-panelise. I have tried this: I used 2mm routed slots, and did my best to ensure no pieces would fall off and damage their machines by using fairly large tabs.

From other discussions, I think I could have got away with 0.75m tab widths.

I wonder if Elecrow would allow multiple designs per board also?

PS: Out of interest - ITEAD have just now told be they would do 5pcs 100x100mm 2 sided for $18. Their support is good.

PPS: Anyone know of either free Gerber manipulation software or a Gerber parser (C or Delphi)? It was a slow, painful process to create the panels from multiple designs in KiCad.

[Simon]

Gerbv can be used to panelize designs but it is clunky

[741]

Thanks, & apologies to the OP - I'll put this into another thread.

[NivagSwerdna]

I use Elecrow, the cost is negligible compared to my time. 5 pieces for $5 for small  boards.

If your boards are BIG then YMMV.