Assembling 4-layer PCBs with black solder mask - vendor suggestions?

[ebastler]

I need to have some 4-layer boards made and populated, and would very much prefer to use black solder mask on them. That is a combination which JLCPCB does not support yet.

(Their "SMT assembly capabilities" page is unclear on that, but the order page makes it clear that black solder mask is only supported when assembling 2-layer boards; 4-layer assembly is for green PCBs only. I did ask their support via email and they confirmed that JLCPCB mean that restriction.)

Is there another low-cost service which offers SMT assembly for black 4-layer boards? I guess I know the answer -- "yes, but it will get quite a bit more expensive..." -- but thanks for any ideas!

[Rat_Patrol]

Companies that I have used:

PCBWay.com
quickturnpcb.co.kr <-- South Korean.

I'm 95% sure both offer what you want.

[ebastler]

Thanks!

As I had guessed, PCBWay is quite a bit more expensive than JLCPCB. For 10 pieces of a largish board, the assembly service is $300 vs. $100 (USD; service fee alone excluding parts cost). PCB manufacturing is $200 vs. $100.  Quickturnpcb.co.kr calculates $600 for the PCBs alone; I did not explore their assembly pricing.

Since this comes out of a hobby budget, the costs do matter to me. I would not balk at 30% more, but a factor of 2-3, or even a factor of 6, is hard to justify for me. Which, I guess, means that my PCBs will either be green, or I will have to populate them myself...

[Bassman59]

I need to have some 4-layer boards made and populated, and would very much prefer to use black solder mask on them. That is a combination which JLCPCB does not support yet.

(Their "SMT assembly capabilities" page is unclear on that, but the order page makes it clear that black solder mask is only supported when assembling 2-layer boards; 4-layer assembly is for green PCBs only. I did ask their support via email and they confirmed that JLCPCB mean that restriction.)

Is there another low-cost service which offers SMT assembly for black 4-layer boards? I guess I know the answer -- "yes, but it will get quite a bit more expensive..." -- but thanks for any ideas!

Seeed does not charge extra for non-green soldermask. I do not know how their assembly prices compare to JLCPCB.