Prototyping PC Board with plated through holes at a reasonable price

[HAL]

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry&Happy Christmas and Happy New Year.  I have followed the numerous suggestions, thanks guys, and have been learning Pcbnew. I have about four or five boxes labeled as JLCBCP.  I don't know they do the pricing, but they are about 20% of the price of the board supplier that I was using....

Pcbnew is fun to play with while watching football (U.S.) where you wait for the crowd noise and watch the replay!

Best regards Hal

[TimB]

I go direct to JLPCB for protos. Great price and if you can wait a few extra days the shipping is good if you do not select UPS/DHL etc

[charliecoutas]

I use Elecrow, $4.90 for 5 off double sided, plated through, superb quality. How on EARTH do they do it for the price???

[chris_cb_uk]

Wow, there I have been doing my own simple boards with uv masks, and baths with a dremel. Just checked out the prices and it's not worth the hassle!

[JonW]

one thing to mention is postage and import duty.  I spin loads of test boards with JLCPCB (3 or 4 per week sometimes) but you need to factor in the postage and I always ship DHL DDP to avoid any customs issues.  Even considering DHL feed and import it is way less than using a local board shop.  I do use the SMT process if time permits and this does save a lot of time as they normally have RLC and basic silicon, USB etc in stock.

Newbury Circuits run a very quick fast turn on FR4 but its really simple.  Double sided 0.8 or 1.6mm Fr4 with bare copper or hasl finish  If you are local you can place order at 9am and pickup at 5PM the same day.  Its pretty cheap too but no where near the cost of the Asian board shops. 


I see they have launched 3D printing service, anyone used it?  I have a couple of Elgoo MSLA printers but they can be difficult with complex parts and sometimes a pig to get perfect results, id rather off load it to JLC are likely to be dirt cheap and great quality.

[TimB]

I have used JLPCB for 3Dparts. Very impressed with the quality. After my failures with the 3D resin printing I'm having its probably the way I will go.

BTW I have used https://www.3dprint-uk.co.uk/ and found them to be good for nylon sls parts. However there is a minimum order price of ~£45 Also I found they are cutting corners by making parts hollow inside i.e lasering the edges and leaving all the nylon powder inside. You drill into a solid parts to tap holes and it's just full of powder and makes an almighty mess.

[HAL]

I am aware that this is the Positron forum, but may I ask a question re: Pcbnew?  How does one place "V" cut lines on a PCB?  I am at a point where I would like to try a couple Vcuts on the next board order.  I haven't found anything in the directions yet. 
TNX Hal

[Oskar-svr]

Hello Hal when I want to make a cut in a PCB I only draw a line and with text I indicate that it is a V cut
I hope it works for you, greetings
the line size is 1mm To the manufacturer of the printed circuit you mention that it is a cut
since if you want to make a panel it is in another way and the software I use for PCB design is altium

[HAL]

Hello Oskar-svr   Thank you for your reply.  I have been using Kicad Pcbnew and had sent in an order to JLCPCB.  I had read somewhere to leave 2mm of space and (using kicad) to run board edge lines along the paths where the v cuts were to be made.  After submitting the order I received a somewhat nasty notice telling me that there would be an additional charge of $8.51 and to submit my board properly next time...  I had submitted the board exactly as I had done previously, the difference being 2 additional edge cut lines... I expect to receive it in the next day or so and will report whether there were 3 separate boards or one board with 2 v cuts.  And thank you for the examples!
Best Regards Hal

[Stephen Moss]

I don't know about JLCPCB but whenever I send in a panel with multiple boards on it I usually put a board edge around each board, leaving whatever minimum gap the PDB fab house suggests between them and they come back as individual boards. I prefer them supplied as pre-cut individual boards rather than using something like V-routing and snapping boards off a panel as you then have to file down the points where they were attached.

Sometimes, depending on the Fab house you can select an option at submission time if you want them supplied as individual boards or not in which case they will use V-routing or something similar and leave them on the panel.
It depends if your CAD software supports it but usually you would put any routing information on a mechanical layer (Board edges usually automatically applied to all layers) - always best to check with the PCB fab house if you are unsure how they like things done as they may be slight variations between fab houses.

[HAL]

Reporting that JLCPCB provided one board with 2 v cuts.  Apparently, placing board edge lines on a board which is already marked with an outer set of board edge lines, indicates that a V cut is desired.  In my case, the boards are for hobby use and the quality of the snapped edges is okay.  I have been using their prototype (100x100mm) low cost special board offer.  I doesn't seem to include V cuts....  FEDEX seems to be have the best shipping time:  5 days China to the Northeast US.

[HAL]

Apologies with regard to my typing skills or rather the obvious lack thereof. 
What I meant to type: It doesn't seem to include V cuts....  FEDEX seems to have the best shipping time:  5 days China to the Northeast U.S.