Hello,
does anyone know a chinese PCB fab that can do a PCB like this
with transparent soldermask and black core FR4 I presume? I am looking for a pcb manufacturer that can do cheap pcb prototypes but with this awesome combo.
I doubt any of the quick & cheap prototyping places will do that combination. Coloured soldermask and plain FR4 is pretty much the limit of those cheap deals so if you need black PCB but clear soldermask then be prepared to pay for a custom run.
It must come at an awesome cost.
It would be awesome if you could afford it.
Awesome
Would it be cool enough to use regular FR-4 with black soldermask, but don't have the soldermask cover any of the traces?
Speaking of the traces, what's the finish on that board? It doesn't look like HASL or ENIG.
I googled for that image and it's the Analogue Nt, a Nintendo NES emulator. According to an article about it, the board is a "custom black PCB with exposed and raised copper traces, finished with a transparent solder mask."
- Bob
Speaking of the traces, what's the finish on that board? It doesn't look like HASL or ENIG.
HASL / ENIG is done after solder mask, so only on the pads. The trace colour is just what the bare copper looks like after it's coated in the clear soldermask.
I don't know where you'd get that done, but it certainly does look nice!
Hello,
does anyone know a chinese PCB fab that can do a PCB like this
with transparent soldermask and black core FR4 I presume? I am looking for a pcb manufacturer that can do cheap pcb prototypes but with this awesome combo.
Clear soldermask can be found, but not from cheap proto services.
Coloured FR4 will have significant MOQ and leadtime - forget cheap protos.
A 4 layer board with inner planes and clear soldermask might get you close-ish to that appearance though.
Or you could fake it with a black resist and silkscreen layer duplicating the trace pattern.
Awesome cost.
Sometimes aesthetics count.
No doubt.
But our OP is " ...looking for a pcb manufacturer that can do cheap pcb prototypes but with this awesome combo..."
No doubt.
But our OP is " ...looking for a pcb manufacturer that can do cheap pcb prototypes but with this awesome combo..."
Yeah he was hopeful, no problem with that. And awesome is a figure of speech widely used amongst younger people. No need to scorch him over that.
That's probably CG. Looks good enough that it could be real, but it's also very unusual as you've noticed.
Incidentally, clear soldermask seems to have been more common back in the day; Tektronix used this back in the 70s. Don't know if that's because it was a film process (with attendant poor registration tolerance -- not very suitable for SMT), or that that's how they preferred to do it. But at the same time, a lot of places went with bare copper (probably HASL board, followed by wave soldering?), which was probably a bit of a mess for various characteristics, but was probably cheap and fast...
I don't know offhand of anywhere that has clear soldermask.
Tim
That's probably CG. Looks good enough that it could be real, but it's also very unusual as you've noticed.
Incidentally, clear soldermask seems to have been more common back in the day; Tektronix used this back in the 70s. Don't know if that's because it was a film process (with attendant poor registration tolerance -- not very suitable for SMT), or that that's how they preferred to do it. But at the same time, a lot of places went with bare copper (probably HASL board, followed by wave soldering?), which was probably a bit of a mess for various characteristics, but was probably cheap and fast...
I don't know offhand of anywhere that has clear soldermask.
Tim
I've had clear mask from my UK supplier - attached pic is clear resist over ENIG.
Eurocircuits also offer it.
If you could get the black PCB but get them to do the ENIG process on all copper before the clear solder mask, that would look really nice....
If you could get the black PCB but get them to do the ENIG process on all copper before the clear solder mask, that would look really nice....
That's what we did for the boards above.
Another option may be to get a black resist layer as a negative of the copper layer - probably easier and cheaper than getting black FR4.
Of course you need a sensible, preferably local PCB place that you can talk to for doing special builds like this.
This doesn't address OP's question in the slightest, but someone is selling black FR4 laminate on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/162430211254Could add a little something to DIY projects.
It is also possible to have two layers of soldermask. The customer is king.
One black layer that covers the substrate but leaves all copper exposed, then a clear layer over the copper except pads.
Resurrecting this thread to mention that (US-based) OSH Park does now offer clear solder mask on black prepreg with their After Dark service:
https://docs.oshpark.com/services/afterdark/Same price as standard prototype boards, somewhat longer lead time.
Anyone know how to order this service from OSH Park? I uploaded a design and it keeps showing me the purple color scheme. I can't find anywhere to select "After Dark".
After you upload your design and click Order, a list of options will appear, including a check box:
[ ] After Dark (Black Substrate + Clear Mask)
Just click on it.
Duh, don't know how I missed that ...
In some other topics i already mentioned a company from my country, they told me that if required, they can even mix up color which is not standard and make panels for you. Though i have no idea how much would that cost but they say they can do it.
Feel free to contact them if you want.
https://pcb.ba/p.s. i have been asking about the turqise blue, sth like that and they said, possible.
Duh, don't know how I missed that ...
Don't feel too bad – that suggests the GUI could be more "discoverable".