New to Self Etching

[RuudNL]

I have no idea what he has to do with it!
Can you remove it in your reply?

 

[rock soderstrom]

I have no idea what he has to do with it!

That's what I thought. Your whole post refers to this page twice. Really strange!

 

[rock soderstrom]

I have no idea what he has to do with it!
Can you remove it in your reply?

Of course! Screenshot deleted.

 

[Michael Tibes]

Does Eisler still have the minimum order quantity? What does a double-sided euroboard 160x100 cost, for example?

I don't think there's a minimum order. If you want to check the price you can upload your pcb in several formats and you will see the price after a few seconds. I ordered one small psu pcb with some el. caps, maybe 4x6 cm and paid about 20€ shipped for 15 pieces. The price per unit goes down a lot if you buy a few. Those pcbs have drilled holes to fit the enclosure exactly, 45 degree corners, double sided, silkscreen and printing. No way for me to get this done properly by hand - I'm really happy with it. Even if I tried, it would be a lot more expensive if I somehow would include my time and all the necessary efforts: Realising this possibility opens a complete new world for me because I can actually build my own ideas. Using the tools I design is my priority, not the details of the manufacturing process ;-)

Again, this is my personal preference, I don't want to keep anyone from self etching but just point out the possibilities I wasn't aware of myself until recently.

Michael

 

[rock soderstrom]

Thanks for feedback, Michael.

 

[JohnRoberts]

This is going to sound like old fart whining but kids today do not know how good they have it... Being able to buy prototype PCBs cheaply is only one aspect. Add to that the free/inexpensive PCB layout software, inexpensive 2d/3d CAD tools, etc.

Back in the day we would hand tape PCB layouts with tape and xacto knives, typically at 2x normal size, then photographically shrink them down to 1x with a copy camera (often found in print shops). Copper clad PCB stock with a photosensitive layer (KPR) gets exposed using UV light overlaid with the film negative. Etchants (like ferric chloride) would etch away the unused copper, leaving just the traces beneath the hardened KPR.

Sorry about the rant but it is silly to not take full advantage of the modern resources at our finger tips.

JR

 

[abbey road d enfer]

OTOH, you could go to the Radio Shack at the corner and get whatever you needed to finish your project...
I miss those days when I could go to the radio/TV/appliance shop and buy all that's needed for a crystal radio.

 

[rock soderstrom]

OTOH, you could go to the Radio Shack at the corner and get whatever you needed to finish your project...
I miss those days when I could go to the radio/TV/appliance shop and buy all that's needed for a crystal radio.

In our small village in the 70s there was an tiny "Elektriker" store where you could buy light bulbs and batteries as well as tubes. The finest quality of Telefunken, Valvo and Mullard for ordinary (old) list prices! The worn out valves served us kids then sometimes as a target for our air rifles or as handgrenade lookalike for our wargames. Today the police would come.

 

[Disco Volante]

As a boy, I used to make PCBs with a special kind of ink/lacquer-pen. The hand-drawn design of it didn't appeal to me then, but maybe it's time to rediscover an ancient art? Or just have someone else do it and get on with it ;-) Slowly teaching myself KiCad atm.

I remember etching with ferric chloride, I had to be very careful with the etching time and the temperature of the solutions. A few times countless hours and valuable PCB stock got lost because of a few minutes lack of attention. Good thing I'm too old to get a diagnosis...

Having a electronics store close by (as in the next bigger town) was handy, but I have to say my life as geek has gotten so much easier with the advent of the net. Availability of information and parts is SO much better these days...

Happy Tinkering,
Viggo