Anyone want a PCB made? ;)
Philldapill
Posts: 1,283
So, I'll get to the point. I've been making my own PCB's for about a year now. I'm a college student and it's summer break, so I'm a little bored. I've just started to REALLY learn EAGLE PCB Sofware, and I'm really getting alot of practice. My goal is to be very well versed in EAGLE by the time I graduate - about a year from now.
So, I've got a deal for anyone who wants to do a little trade off. I have many of my own projects to use as practice, but I'd like to get more practice in the schematic and design phase, and also the actual PCB layout phase. What I'm proposing, for anyone interested, is to let me make your PCB for a nominal fee. This way, I get more practice/experience on your dime, and you get a super inexpensive PCB.
All I'd charge is for materials. Consider it free training for me, and a heck of a deal on low quantity PCB's for you.
Any takers?
So, I've got a deal for anyone who wants to do a little trade off. I have many of my own projects to use as practice, but I'd like to get more practice in the schematic and design phase, and also the actual PCB layout phase. What I'm proposing, for anyone interested, is to let me make your PCB for a nominal fee. This way, I get more practice/experience on your dime, and you get a super inexpensive PCB.
All I'd charge is for materials. Consider it free training for me, and a heck of a deal on low quantity PCB's for you.
Any takers?
Comments
Thanks.
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Quit buying all those fixed voltage regulators, and·get an Adjustable Power Supply·for your projects!· Includes an LED testing terminal!
Specs:
Size about 1.1x6"
minimum clearance between traces 6mil
minimum hole size: 12mil
2 layers.
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propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
Vaati, you can make the layout in either of those, but I'd have to manually convert it to EAGLE, which I don't think I'd mind. If you want to just do the schematic in those programs, and specify the packages of each, I can do the PCB routing and layout. However, if you want, just make a general layout so I can get the idea of what you want.
mctrivia, wow... 6mil? That's a tight tolerance, which I doubt I can do reliably. If the board is double sided, with only traces(no parts) on one side, I think I can run jumper wires... I don't do double sided boards for myself, so I won't be able to do that... Sorry [noparse]:([/noparse]
So, basically, if you have a SINGLE sided board, with trace tolerance >= 10mil, I think I can do that pretty reliably.
What you are doing is a great way to learn a skill. I switched my propmod to QFN soley so I could practice more with soldering smaller and smaller parts.
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propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
Before, I did use ferric chloride and made a few of my own. I used an HP Inkjet and transparency sheets to print. But now I have a Cannon Inkjet and the ink beads up rather than covers. My laser printer handles transparency film, but it is not black enough to use with the printed circuit boards.
Also, it is a heck of a lot easier to drill all the tiny holes with a pin vise and by hand than to use any sort of power drill. That may seem odd. But the power tools tend to skid around. I just sit down with a latte and watch T.V. while I drill 100 or so holes. There are some very good reasons to use hand tools for fine work. Also, you don't break those tiny drill bits when drilling by hand.
Double sided DIY is a bit tricky. I expose one side and then drill a copy of diagonally opposite holes for positioning the image on the opposite side. One has to go slow and be careful to get the registration right.
Eagle can be easily used as a single sided design by having the second side just represent all the wire links. One just builds the second side with wires rather than using double sided copper. But you still use Eagle for layout as if you had two sides.
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Ain't gadgetry a wonderful thing?
aka G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse] 黃鶴 ] in Taiwan
Your web presence appears pretty comprehensive, but I can't find any detail about how you do your boards. If I asked really nicely would you enlighten us as to how you manage 5 mil at home? I'm quite interested!
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"VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised!
The problem of skidding off the mark is avoidable if you put the shank of the bit far up into the chuck ... then the end of the bit doesn't wobble. If it *still* skids, go slower. If I need extreme precision, then I take a hat pin and a little hammer and tap the spot before drilling... much as you would do with metal and larger bits. (Except you don't 'punch' the metal first if you're drilling with a press --- this isn't an issue with real small bits.)
I know this sounds like it's all *slower* than just going for it with the hand drill, but I've found it three to four times faster, primarily because I can scoot the board from drill-spot to drill-spot on the little-drill press table faster than moving the hand drill.
@leon --- Yes, how DO you do it??· (Your site, BTW, is helpful ... thanks for posting your experiences.)
@Philldapill --- you might want to try this out --- I got the dremel press at a garage sale for $5.
Thanks for the offer of doing boards for us - a commendable way to learn!
-Howard
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No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
Post Edited (CounterRotatingProps) : 5/28/2009 4:37:34 PM GMT
Standard photo-etch. I use a cheap HP DeskJet 5940 printer for the artwork, printing onto JetStar Premium film. PCB material is CEM/1 (it's easier than FR4 to cut and drill) pre-coated with positive resist.
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
I have a 6800/09 a 6502 , a prop and a Z80 SBC do you want me to send you the drawings??? drop me a line mikediv@comcast.net
·Just make sure the surface you lay the board on is flat and hard. If it is soft, such as a shirt or towel laid out on a bench to support the board, the underside will bust when you strike it!
@mikediv, sure! Send them my way. My email is Philip.McCorkle@mavs.uta.edu. I've got some time this summer, so I hope this is going to be a great nerdy time. Fear not, though. I've also got some girly playdates involving college girls and bikini's too. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Post Edited (Philldapill) : 5/29/2009 1:48:28 AM GMT
I always find that there is so much that I want to get accomplished during the summer, but it never happens... It's almost depressing, but fortunately all it takes is one school year for the optimism to return. This summer will be different...
I'm two weeks out [noparse]:([/noparse] ... Not as much time as I would like to work on stuff before UPEW! Good luck on all your summer plans.
College is a blast, but it certainly does eat up a lot of time. I entered this year with the plan of finishing (to the extent possible) my robot by Christmas. Christmas rolled around, and some hardware was done but not much. Then winter quarter got tough, so the bot was going to be done by the end of spring quarter. Now that quarter is almost done, and I'll consider myself lucky if I can get some sort of autonomy by the end of June. I almost wish for the days of high school: show up from 8am to 3pm, and the rest of the day is yours! That's at least 7 hours of free time per day. Now I cherish the three hours that I can carve. I console myself by saying that all these courses I'm taking allow me to do the same thing in a day that it took me a week to do before, and to do it twice as well. I guess it's just TINSTAFIC.
Post Edited (SRLM) : 5/29/2009 7:57:28 AM GMT
The transparency material is critical; with the JetStar I only print once. Yellow is more opaque to UV than black, but I haven't tried it as black works very well for me. JetStar is sold by Mega Electronics here in the UK; the Premium film is essential with the HP.
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
Leon, I'll have to try the yellow. The reason I print twice is that if I hold the art up to the light, I can see jillions of tiny "holes" in the image - it's not totally opaque. I'll try those transparencies.