Where do yall get your fiberglass PCB material?  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: GhostDog
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 06, 2021, 10:36:24 am
content: I'm just curious as I'm probably going to be etching (or atleast trying to etch) some designs I've got, and I was wondering about prices for the PCB-fiberglass material. ATM I'm looking at a 300x300mm piece that's 0.035mm copper and 62thou FR4 substrate for about $25 Aussie (~$19 USD). Is this a good price?

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2021, 03:06:01 pm
content: In .au I don't know, but last time I bought much it was a box of assorted cutoffs, literally, whatever fit inside a flat rate mailing box. For almost the same price. That must be over a decade ago, now... I wonder if they're still available, I'm almost out actually.If nothing else I think you should be able to find much cheaper packs of cut-to-size stock on eBay and the like. I don't know that this is something Chinese sellers can really screw up, like, if it's bad, it would have to be pretty obviously bad...Tim

author: Cerebus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2021, 07:55:37 pm
content: Nowadays unless you want to do it purely for the experience of having made your own PCBs from scratch I'd say "Let the helpful Chinese make it for you".At the prices the likes of JLCPCB and PCBWAY are charging there is no longer any argument for DIY other than "I want to". It'll cost you more, you won't get as good a result, you'll probably not have plated through holes, solder mask or silkscreen and you'll be left with contaminated chemicals to be disposed of responsibly. I can and have made my own PCBs (and indeed still have a stock of all the necessary supplies) but nowadays I just fire off the Gerbers to China and pay a pittance for them to do all the work for me.

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2021, 11:27:48 pm
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on August 06, 2021, 03:06:01 pmI've bought 10x7cm boards (single and double-sided) from eBay & Alix for years. Mostly FR2-like, but recently some FR4-like too.Most of the time it has been fine, but the last batch were all mismatched sizes by a few mm or so. Looks like they roughly hand guillotined the pieces down before shippingI normally design my homemade boards to be slightly less than 10x7cm or 5x7cm, to match the cut pieces. Emphasis on "slightly less" (about -1mm is good), to allow for the cutting line and in case the boards from a new supplier are slightly different size.

author: WattsThat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2021, 01:24:03 am
content: Tim: bought a 4 pound box of those trim pieces myself earlier this year, it’s a nice assortment. It is probably the same guy still selling on eBay, name is abcfab. His site said he was bouncing between Florida and New Hampshire, depending upon the season. Nothing on eBay right now but he said he’d be back selling the scrap boxes in the fall.https://www.ebay.com/str/pcblaminatescopperclad

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2021, 02:52:31 am
content: The same one!Tim

author: GhostDog
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 07, 2021, 03:12:28 am
content: TBH main reason that i want to make them myself is because of the cost and time for shipping, it costs about 2x the board cost to ship to where i am, and 4+ weeks...Appreciate the feedback though!

author: IconicPCB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2021, 01:58:06 am
content: Ghost,What do you need and how much of it do you need?By the way where are you located?I have single sided FR4 in 600mm x 500mm 1 ounce panels and double sided in a range of part panel sizes ( 200 x 500, 300x500 and 600x 500 ) 1/2 ouncecopper 1.6mm thickness and some in 0.8mm thickness.