Options to get fast and/or cheap PCB in low volume for hobby in UK? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: matrixofdynamism
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2015, 11:32:18 pm
content: For a hobbyist in UK, what options exist to get fast and cheap PCBs delivered? I know fast/cheap is trade-off so putting the question another way. What options exist for hobbyist to get low volume PCBs made in UK? I live in the West Midlands if that matters.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2015, 11:55:05 pm
content: Quote from: matrixofdynamism on August 05, 2015, 11:32:18 pmGo on, give us a clue.What do you mean by "fast", "cheap" and "get low volume PCBs made in UK"? What board features are you looking for? (Layers, thickness, tolerances, materials etc).FWIW I'm in the UK and I get low volume PCBs by using DirtyPCBs. So far the factory->doorstep time is 2 weeks for 10 off 5cm*5cm 2 layer boards for £10 or so.

author: IanJ
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 06, 2015, 05:57:15 am
content: Quote from: tggzzz on August 05, 2015, 11:55:05 pmJust incase it matters..........DirtyPCB use China for actual manufacture "Your board will go to a cut-rate prototype PCB factory in China". But yes, I wish there was a true, cheap "made in UK" also.........Ian.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2015, 07:23:28 am
content: Quote from: IanJ on August 06, 2015, 05:57:15 amJust so. There were two points to my posting: to point up the ambiguity of the question, and then to pose that most useful of questions: "so what?" (about where it ismanufactured).

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2015, 08:12:34 am
content: Why made in UK ? You are already constrining your options severely.For low volume/low cost you're looking at pooling services as otherwise the tooling cost is a killer. The only UK based one I know of is Ragworm, though I don't know if they manufacture in UK - Their parent company does have UK manufacturing but they often ship even small orders from ChinaIf you want fast, there are plenty of UK places that will do 24H turnrounds at a price. For 2 layer I'd reccommend Screenbond - min cost for a 24H turn is about £150, which is chape as UK places go.PCBtrain offer a fast service for PCBs with no resist at a pretty good price, but their other fast services are expensive.Eurocircuits have a pretty good balance between price and speed, and being based in Europe, ship time adds typically 1 day to their leadtime.Fast, cheap.Pick one.

author: matrixofdynamism
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2015, 09:41:13 am
content: OK, lets reword the question. I understand that a certain level of relativity and subjectivity is involved in this question so I want you to interpret however you want.If a person is living in UK and wants to get low volume PCB at a low price and/or quickly what options exist? OK low price would be <100£ and this is for 2 layer board. By quick it means less than 7 days from ordering upto getting the board.

author: bookaboo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2015, 09:56:54 am
content: http://pcbshopper.com/Comparison site, there's a discussion thread around here somewhere. I just paid $60.00 shipped for 10 small boards 80x70mm 2-layer with an estimated 7-day lead time.Supplier is "smart-prototyping", I do wonder if the product can be good quality at that price but I guess we will see.I previously always used pcb-cart and never had any quality issues but their prices have gone up so I figured I'd give these a go.

author: matrixofdynamism
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2015, 11:45:54 am
content: Thanks bookaboo,Please note that the purpose of asking this question on a forum is to know people's personal experiences. I can of course experiment around but since it takes many days for PCBs to arrive, I will be acutely disappointed if the service is bad e.g PCB taking many more days than I am told or PCB being damaged during manufacturing and thus unuseable e.t.c

author: GlowingGhoul
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2015, 03:04:36 pm
content: Fast, Cheap, Low-VolumePick two of the three.

author: Josephine85
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2015, 01:12:14 pm
content: here you find a good list of pcb manufactures worldwide, also some in the uk:http://www.cadsoftusa.com/partners-references/board-houses/i think there will be a cheap and fast offer for youor you try some manufactures from the rest of europe, perhaps there are no shipping costs, then you have a wider range of offers.bb