PCB Manufacturers
- Thread starter 2204Stuff
- Start date
Silver Blues
Well-known member
OSH Park is my choice too!
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
OSHpark is the most common company for hobbyists, but they aren't actually a manufacturer. Typically the reason most hobbyists use overseas board houses is that US board houses typically have large minimum order requirements. What OSH does is take projects from a bunch of people and organize them into one large order that's big enough for the US manufacturer to take it. As I understand it there are twoor three board houses they typically send to, but I wasn't able to figure out which ones. OSH is a reasonable option for small batches, but for larger runs they just don't make sense in my opinion, their prices are nowhere near competing with overseas manufacturers like JLCPCB or Elecrow.
The only USA house I've really looked at seriously was Advanced Circuits and their prices are just too high to make them viable for me. A board that would cost me less than $1 per PCB overseas costs anywhere from $65 (5 qty) to $5 (150 qty) per PCB from Advanced Circuits. Also most overseas houses will do electrical testing at no additional charge, but Advanced charges an extra $175 per batch to do the same testing.
I will say that one benefit to USA board houses is that if you're in a hurry many houses will negotiate same-day runs if needed. It would be expensive, but if there's a board house within driving distance from you (worth a search, there are a couple within range of me) and you have special circumstances requiring it, you could place an order in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon. I doubt anyone would have urgent stompbox needs, but something to consider if your circumstances require it.
The only USA house I've really looked at seriously was Advanced Circuits and their prices are just too high to make them viable for me. A board that would cost me less than $1 per PCB overseas costs anywhere from $65 (5 qty) to $5 (150 qty) per PCB from Advanced Circuits. Also most overseas houses will do electrical testing at no additional charge, but Advanced charges an extra $175 per batch to do the same testing.
I will say that one benefit to USA board houses is that if you're in a hurry many houses will negotiate same-day runs if needed. It would be expensive, but if there's a board house within driving distance from you (worth a search, there are a couple within range of me) and you have special circumstances requiring it, you could place an order in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon. I doubt anyone would have urgent stompbox needs, but something to consider if your circumstances require it.
benny_profane
Well-known member
Until rather recently, it wasn’t uncommon for companies to have in-house board and die fab for proto and tape out. Die fab and wafer production are slowly coming back stateside for commercial entities in reaction to the silicon shock during the height of COVID-19 (the reverberations were still experiencing). But, I don’t imagine domestic, hobbyist-level board fabs are going to happen anytime soon. There’s not enough incentive to cater to folks looking for a few cheap boards when commercial volume (and budgets) are their current market share.
2204Stuff
Member
Thanks for all the input.
I've had quit a few set backs and now being behind on the launch, will have to reset the date.
not happy that I will have to go out of the US, currently money is still money and at the present cannot budget paying 5 times more for the same product.
going to change the thread title, I was hoping that someone in the US would work.
I've had quit a few set backs and now being behind on the launch, will have to reset the date.
not happy that I will have to go out of the US, currently money is still money and at the present cannot budget paying 5 times more for the same product.
going to change the thread title, I was hoping that someone in the US would work.
BuddytheReow
Breadboard Baker
I've been happy with JLCPCB. They're in China, but are pretty cheap and shipping is fast (less than a week once shipped). They're manufacturing process only takes a few days and you can see the status of your job in nearly real time. 5 boards cost me about $20, which ain't bad. YMMV
bean
Well-known member
Once you go over 30 qty (at least with JLCPCB) it can start to get expensive with shipping. But, sometimes you can save a few bucks by having them panelize the PCB. It really depends on how big it is.
Passinwind
Well-known member
DigiKey’s DKRed service is mostly comparable to OSH, with the caveat that slotted pads are not supported. They tend to throw in one or two free bonus boards on many of my orders, so for the small-ish modules I often build they can be fairly cost effective. The boards drop ship from Royal Circuits in California, who have been promising to do their own DIY oriented service for a while now, but so far no joy.
Last edited:
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
Yeah I use JLC for everything including SMD assembly, and I have had very few (not quite zero) issues. I think the most I've ordered of a non-panelized board at a time was 50, but their prices are very good.
PCBway is another I hear good things about, I have a friend that uses them exclusively and has had only good experiences with them.
I used to use Elecrow before I switched over to JLC and I didn't have any problems with them either, pricing is comparable to JLC, but their SMD assembly process isn't as streamlined as JLC, and now my libraries are all set up to work with JLC. So I'm stuck with them until I decide to spend a week or so switching all my libraries over to something new.
Anyway. I talk a lot. Sorry.
PCBway is another I hear good things about, I have a friend that uses them exclusively and has had only good experiences with them.
I used to use Elecrow before I switched over to JLC and I didn't have any problems with them either, pricing is comparable to JLC, but their SMD assembly process isn't as streamlined as JLC, and now my libraries are all set up to work with JLC. So I'm stuck with them until I decide to spend a week or so switching all my libraries over to something new.
Anyway. I talk a lot. Sorry.
finebyfine
Well-known member
We’ll probably get 3d printer-esque pcb fabrication well before then. Some exist now and are insanely expensive but the same was once true of regular 3d printers 10 years ago
And back to the topic I’ll echo everyone else’s sentiments on JLCPCB and OSHPARK
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
I guess before I started ordering boards I used to CNC boards in my garage. I figured out a decent process to get usable 2-layer boards, only downside was obviously you had to solder wire in for vias, but for one-offs (back when I built only for myself) it worked great.
My old job had a Dragonfly PCB printer that they spent $300k on. It was remarkably cool, and we used it for prototyping boards up to 14 layers, but the boards were brittle (the dielectric is a UV curable resin) and expensive (the conductive ink is silver-based).
2204Stuff
Member
398 ~ thank you for talking a lot.
I'm currently overwhelmed, just started using Diptrace and trying to get this nailed down and sent for manufacturing.
I used to be a fire sprinkler cad designer and I could actually do this all day, love it, it is just the learning curve that is hitting me hard
and I do not have the time.
who would be the better company that is friendly with Diptrace?
on through hole what size trace do you use, capture pad, and anything I need to know on working with JLC?
I'm currently overwhelmed, just started using Diptrace and trying to get this nailed down and sent for manufacturing.
I used to be a fire sprinkler cad designer and I could actually do this all day, love it, it is just the learning curve that is hitting me hard
and I do not have the time.
who would be the better company that is friendly with Diptrace?
on through hole what size trace do you use, capture pad, and anything I need to know on working with JLC?
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
It doesn't really matter who you go with, but you'll need to export gerber files to send to the board house, every board house will take the same gerbers.
Typically when I design through-hole PCBs for professional fabrication, I use 15mil (12mil on more complex design, but never less than 12mil) traces for almost everything, 40mils for high current (I do weird stuff). If the design is super simple I'll do 20mil for everything, but I'm more likely to use 15mil traces to allow more space between signal traces.
For component pads I typically use 80mil pads with 40mil holes, and for vias I like 30mil diameter with 16mil holes. I tent all my vias to keep the clean look, but if there are lines you want to be able to probe for testing in more complex designs you can leave them untented so you can poke them with a probe.
Diptrace is great, it's what I recommend to everyone that asks me what CAD tool they should start with for layouts.
