Futurlec PCB manufacturing service - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 01:03:27 am
content: http://www.futurlec.com/PCBService.shtmlPreviously unbeknownst, I've recently discovered that Futurlec offers 2-layer PCB manufacturing services at reasonable cost.Their tolerancesare a bit on the meh side, but 1-week turn sounds like a winner for those projects that don't warrant the massive overhead of an expedited turn, and you just don't want to wait 2+ weeks with ultra-budget services either. Also, there doesn't appear to be any explicitly prohibition of slots, v-grooving, and/or panelization. Anyone have experience with these guys?

author: pauln
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 04:35:50 am
content: Quote from: slateraptor on August 16, 2012, 01:03:27 amI have had experience with their PCB making service.I would rather have all my teeth extracted without any form of anesthesia than ever go through the process again.It took 1 month not 1 week (even with DHL shipping), email queries from them required interpretation and were all superfluous. The boards themselves were just OK. Based on other PCBs I have had produced since, they are also expensive.Good LuckPaul

author: russdx
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 01:59:59 pm
content: there prices are crazy, i would not use them for prototyping!!!

author: poodyp
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 10:12:30 pm
content: I'm tryingoshpark. $5 a square inch. It's gotten really popular now, they say they do 2-3 boards a week, so turn around time shouldn't be too bad. I submitted a board monday so I'll see how it goes.

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 11:41:44 pm
content: Quote from: poodyp on August 16, 2012, 10:12:30 pmFirst I've heard of them. Please let us know how it goes; turnaround time is a bit long, but their capabilities and tolerances sound good to me.Quote from: pauln on August 16, 2012, 04:35:50 amBummer.Might just have to go with my normal board house on this prototype. I'll have to give them shot on something less important...that 1-week turn is tempting enough to give them a chance. Thanks for the heads up.Quote from: russdx on August 16, 2012, 01:59:59 pmIf you're making 1 board for a personal project, I agree...but I need 5 boards--which comes out to roughly US$29 per board before shipping--for a professional prototype which will come under visual scrutiny by customers with a lot of power and a lot of money, but don't necessarily understand the concept of "proof of concept". At this point, time is slightly more valuable since the price of a single board is significantly less than the hourly equivalent of my salary, but I have other things to preoccupy myself for a short while, so the advertised 1-week turnaround service at reasonable cost was considered. However, if I fail to productively move forward as a consequence of waiting on a service that doesn't even remotely adhere to what they advertise (as pauln has suggested) just so I can save the company a bit here and there, then my employer won't be very happy. Indeed, saving is great when you can successfully resolve your way around the caveats, but good intentions can bite you the wrong way at the worst time if you're a hasty, uncalculated young professional.

author: Game-Tech.US
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 01:56:48 am
content: Quote from: poodyp on August 16, 2012, 10:12:30 pmI've been using them for 2 years and its been great!The new online board submission is super easy and intuitive with excellent gerb view feedback.It used to be known as the Dorkbot group/batch pcb fab service but recently changed names.The only gripe is because of it popularity I can no longer get a hold of the guy in charge. He used to take time to answer any ?s I had. And emailing him is the only way to put in a medium run order, but since he doesn't respond my order from two weeks ago has went as yet un-submitted.Very frustrating...

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 02:45:34 am
content: Quote from: Game-Tech.US on August 17, 2012, 01:56:48 amI was wondering why Laen's name was on the page...makes sense now. Somehow, I missed the Dorkbot part.

author: 48X24X48X
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 04:05:21 am
content: You can't go wrong with Oshpark/Laen/Dorkbot.Used them in the past, always good quality board but some minor silkscreen issues.And remember, they are offering TG170 boards which is only available upon request with other fab!If you are in the US, it's definitely worth your bucks as it's pretty fast.

author: ToBeFrank
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 02:05:16 pm
content: Quote from: 48X24X48X on August 17, 2012, 04:05:21 amI've used them numerous times and agree with this. The silkscreen is not that great but otherwise the board quality is very good.

author: poorchava
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2012, 09:28:10 pm
content: Price-wise still thousand miles behind iTead Studio and Seeed Studio.5x5cm board (4 sq.in.) would cost $20 for 3 pieces + shipping.50x50mm board from iTead is $9.90+$4 shpiining to anywhere for 10 pieces (+1 or 2 randomly).Plus for the Oshpark is that they do enig finish without additional fee whereas in iTead enig costs extra $20. On the other hand itead plates slots (as long as they are not perceived as 'long slot' used for parting the pcb, which is not allowed). Itead also does 100% electrical test, and seeed studio do 50%. Dunno how about oshpark.Of course in my case oshpark service gets a bit more expensive because of shipping. If they are based in US, i believe expedited shipping to central Europe is around $30 and regular mail is something like $10-15.

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 01:45:44 am
content: Quote from: poorchava on August 19, 2012, 09:28:10 pmLast time I used iTead, they only tested half the order and prohibited slots altogether...seems they've changed things a bit since, including price, but turnaround is nevertheless still painfully slow. I only use them for stuff that isn't time-sensitive, which is less and less these days.If Futurlec held true to their 1-week turnaround, then it's really not a bad deal, especially for 1-sided designs, but evidently it doesn't appear this way. Obviously, I'm taking time into serious consideration; overall cost isn't always determined from a strict monetary perspective.

author: David Aurora
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 05:50:46 am
content: Based on experience just buying parts from Futurlec, I can imagine how the PCB's could go...

author: Emil
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 01:22:46 pm
content: Quote from: slateraptor on August 16, 2012, 01:03:27 amI used them 2 or 3 times a about 5 years ago. No problems.One one of the boards I combined 3 different designs, they didn't appear to have any problems with that.