freestompboxes.org

Hello;

I'm starting this thread to share my opinion on the only Fab House I've worked with so far.

http://www.pcbcart.com - Location: China

First I liked of this site, is that you can get a quote in real time, without having to write emails or anything.
You just need to sign up, and you are ready to check out how much your boards would cost, shipping, tooling, everything!
My boards are on the way, but a friend of mine back in Chile showed me some 4 Layers PCB he had done in PCB Cart. And the quality was absolutly amazing... As good as it gets I'd dare to say.

The Price: Amazing! I ordered quite small amounts for prototyping and eventually selling some of the first units. And the price wasn't bad at all.
Average Tooling cost was about 40~50 USD per design (my boards are quite large since I use double decker PCBs in all my pedals) So boards up to 80x120mm were quite common.
The price for my biggest board:
-80x120mm,
-153 components
-Over 600 holes
-Dual layer
-RohS Compliant
-PTH
-Silkscreen, and antisolder mask on both sides

Was about 7€ for 10 boards. andTooling was about 40€. Of course if you buy for example 75+ units, the price drops to a ridiculous 2.5€ per board.

But what really has blown me away, and the main reason of why I'll probably stick with these guys, is the customer service. Over 20 emails (yes 20!) in less than 4 days were sent from these guys, until they made sure the boards will be exactly how I need them.
The different people I emailed with gave me many suggestions to lower the manufacturing price, among many other specs. They were always ultra polite, and eager to help me, and clarify my doubts.

I still haven't got my boards... but the experience as been a 10/10 so far.

Best Regards

Doug.

http://www.batchpcb.com (manufactured by Gold Phoenix (http://www.goldphoenixpcb.biz/), China)

These guys are a prototype PCB manufacturer. They were started by the guys at SparkFun Electronics as a way to let hobbyists (and I'm sure themselves) get inexpensive boards made for prototypes. The setup cost is 10 bucks for as many boards (quantity) and designs as you'd like - setup is likely for BatchPCB to panalize your designs. Shipping has been 5 bucks for my past two orders. Boards are priced at $2.50 per square inch. This makes small boards fairly competitive, but large boards it's best to go straight to Gold Phoenix and place your order because you can have a single panel made and get two or more boards for the price it would cost for one if you went to BatchPCB. With BatchPCB, I have gotten duplicate boards each time I ordered, and on my last order (7 design, 90 dollar order), I got double my order. This is probably because my boards had to be re-made and it took way longer than usual, but I'm not going to complain. Lead time is a bit long at about 3 weeks from receipt to order to delivery, but the quality/price is worth it for one-off or low quantity boards.

Boards can be designed in any common board layout program that can export Gerber files. This will force you to do some more work on the front end with layout clearances, but it's good experience, Spark Fun has posted their DCR file for Eagle on their website, and finding a tutorial for the CAM processor in Eagle is not hard (Spark Fun may have their CAM file up too, I'm not sure). I use Eagle for my designs, and aside from it not checking copper distances for lettering, and the lettering for the silkscreen is different in Eagle than when it's made (size mainly), it's made flawless layouts. Designs are also checked upon upload by an online DCR bot, so things that physically can't be manufactured, won't be.

Features:
-ROHS
-1 oz copper
-Double sided
-Unlimited holes and vias
-Green solder mask
-White silkscreen
-Routed edges
-Non-standard shaped
-No internal routing
-And I'm sure I'm missing some, check the website for the full rules like trace size and clearance

I've used these guys twice and I would not hesitate to use them again for small run/one off boards/prototypes.

great stuff guys. this could become a very useful reference.

Yepp... I'll try to post some pics of the pcbs once they've arrived.+

Greetings

hey darkglass, did U receive those pcbs? got any pics? so, what was the final verdict? T