==== Where To Have Made ==== If you dont have your own [[http://www.ladyada.net/library/pcb/inhouseetch.html|wet-etch system,]] you'll need to send pcb's out to be made by a company Many companies have a "quick prototyping" option, where you get your board back within the week, but sometimes without soldermask or silkscreen. Most hobbyists use this option to make small runs of boards. ****[[http://www.4pcb.com|Advanced Circuits (4pcb.com)]]** aka **[[http://www.barebonespcb.com|Barebones PCB]]** aka [[http://www.33each.com|33Each.com]]** aka **[[http://www.freedfm.com|FreeDFM.com]]** \\ These guys have a bunch of different options for cheap boards. The fastest is [[http://barebonespcb.com|barebonespcb.com]], which will get your boards shipped next day, no solder mask, etc. for $35 and a sq. in. cost. This seems to be one of the cheaper method available online. I've used it a lot and have no complaints. Since it's square-inch priced you can panelize (put mulitple designs on one PCB and cut it with a saw your shear) \\ Another method, if you're a student, is their [[http://www.33each.com|$33 deal ]]where you can get a 60sq.in. board for $33 ($50 after shipping) with soldermask and top silkscreen. If you're not a student, theres a 3-part minimum, so its $100. Still, a good deal if you want soldermask. If you want to panelize this design they'll add $50. \\ They'll rip you off on shipping, so be sure to calculate that into your total! **[[http://www.apcircuits.com|Alberta Printed Circuits (APCircuits)]]** \\ I like their quick turn P1 service, I dont like their weird drill-size constraints. Apparently theres a quick way to deal with this in Eagle but I dont use them much anymore **[[http://e-teknet.com|E-TekNet]]** \\ A front-end for some PCB company in China. A friend recommended them but after making 500 PCBs there, I found their customer service to be frustrating and I was unhappy with the PCBs I purchased. I wouldn't use them again. **[[http://www.goldphoenixpcb.biz/|Gold Phoenix]]** \\ This is the company Sparkfun uses for their cheap PCB service. You can get 1000 sq cm of PCBs for about $100. Yow! [[http://www.nearfuturelaboratory.com/2007/01/19/pcb-fab-house-review/|Check out Julian Bleekers very nice review.]] I order prototypes from them, but for production be sure to go with electrical testing as I've had a few flawed PCBs (vias that dont connect thru, etc) **[[http://www.olimex.com|Olimex]]** \\ I've never used these guys, they're in Bulgaria so things take a while to get to/from them if you don't live in Europe. They're dirt cheap, though. I've heard some good things about the quality. **[[http://www.ourpcb.com|OurPCB]]** \\ Steve Conway recommends them after a PCB run. Made in China, but with reasonable service and shipping. Probably similar to Gold Phoenix in quality. **[[http://www.pcbcart.com|PCBCART]]** \\ We held a grudge against these guys for a few years for using a photo of our PCBs in their ads but after nudging from from friends, we've tried them out for PCB manufacture. They're good when you want a lot of something made. We think the PCB quality is higher than Gold Phoenix but its still not as good as advanced circuits. **[[http://www.pcbexpress.com|PCB 123/PCB Express ]]** \\ The software is lame, but the service is pretty good, apparently. I haven't had time to try it out though. Seems to be pretty much identical to Advanced Circuits in pricing and structure: Cheap (no silk/mask) next-day PCBs, a couple-day prototype service with green mask and white silkscreen, and then a more detailed 'production' service. [[http://www.pcbexpress.com/products/prices.php|You can check out their pricing here.]] **[[https://www.protoexpress.com/|Sierra Proto (2justforyou)]]** \\ Their DFM production staff seems so-so compared to 4pcb, and they add a $20 'service' charge to their proto PCBs which is really obnoxious (just be honest about the price, is all I ask). But when they get around to it, the quality of their "NoTouch" boards exceeds that of 4pcb w/gorgeous silk-screening. Whats really nice is that they allow much larger PCBs for their prototype runs, 80 sq. & larger. ==== "Batching" manufacturers ==== These services will make nice PCBs in small quantities but they can take weeks - they basically collect a dozen orders and tile them into one PCB which is why there's a delay. **[[http://www.sparkfun.com|BatchPCB (SparkFun Prototyping)]]** \\ They have a 'prototypers' service, $10 + $2.50 per sq in. They use Gold Phoenix as their downstream provider, its probably good for most small projects but be aware that it may take 3 weeks to get your PCBs (they are low priority and made in China) **[[ http://Oshpark.com]]** \\ Laen sends out a bi-weekly PCB order. Boards are $5/sq. inch. for 3 copies. The quality is excellent, the boards are produced domestically, and shipping is covered in your board price. Boards take a max of 9 days turn around. Not cost-effective for producing small volume runs, but good for testing/experimenting with a design. All designs are purple mask with gold-plating **[[http://iteadstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=19|ITeadStudio PCB proto]]** \\ 10cm*10cm max -10pcs for ~$40 **[[http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/fusion-pcb-2-layer-10cm10cm-max-10pcs-p-396.html?cPath=64_12|SeeedStudio Fusion]]** \\ 10cm*10cm max -10pcs for $40