Impact of Tariffs on PCB Fab

[For The Popcorn]

I was quoted prices for one and ten boards for my project then.

Quoted how much is the question. Significantly more than $5 I'll bet.

 

[schmitt trigger]

I was quoted prices for one and ten boards for my project then. That biz closed in 2020.

Count me as someone else who also wants to know the value of that quote.

 

[For The Popcorn]

Pleasant surprise this morning when I checked the status of my board shipment. It was already waiting outside the door.

Another pleasant surprise was that the package was heavier than expected. My 5 board order was built as a 10 board order. For a buck.

But wait, there's more. Fab houses often make extra boards, just incase there are any flaws during production. Elecrow sometimes includes the overrun. So my 5 board order resulted in 11 boards being delivered.

Elecrow includes panelizing and v-scoring without an up-charge. I panelized 6 boards in the allowable cheap board size of 100mm × 100mm. The boards snap apart when flexed. So for one thin dollar (plus 50 bucks shipping and tariffs ), I received 66 pcbs!

There were no additional charges to what Elecrow charged, and no delays in shipping.

 

[be80be]

I have only seen cost on stock thats in the US being sold like it just came from China or you can't get it.
We have led stop signs to tell driver to exit it now cost $400 to replace led light in them I changed them to
a plain led bulb $8 bucks
I think I'll get a CNC to make what boards I want make

 

[For The Popcorn]

I bought a Cubiko desktop CNC machine on Kickstarter for $350 bucks....delivery hopefully in August. It's supposedly designed for PCB milling. It only has a 150mm ×:100mm build area, but the price was right.

Cubiko CNC Router, An Affordable Desktop CNC for Everyone

CNC machines shouldn’t be out of reach because of high costs or complexity. We believe everyone deserves the chance to create. That’s why we built Cubiko — a CNC Router that’s affordable, easy to use, and designed to inspire creators of all levels.

www.sainsmart.com

 

[be80be]

I had a cheap 3D printer way to slow I got a second one it print in a hour what took a day on the old one.
plus color changing too started un grading old one so its lot better. CNC got get one.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I had a cheap 3D printer way to slow I got a second one it print in a hour what took a day on the old one.
plus color changing too started un grading old one so its lot better. CNC got get one.

We upgraded at work to a couple of Bambu P1S's - I can highly recommend them, they are about six times faster than our old Ender 3's - also the print quality is much higher..

 

[For The Popcorn]

Since we're on the subject of slow 3D printers....

I decided to make a soldering iron tip holder to fit in a tiny under-shelf drawer. I've used OpenSCAD a little bit and created what I wanted pretty quickly. I have learned that making a sketch with every position really simplifies coding in OpenSCAD.

The code is a remarkable few lines.

//Soldering Iron Bit Holder


difference(){
translate([0, 0, 12]){
cube(size = [75, 190, 26], center = true);}
for(Y = [-80: 20 : 20]){
    for(X = [-25.5: 17 : 25.5]){
        translate([X, Y, 0]){
        rotate(a=[-15,0,0]){
            #cylinder(35, d= 7, center = false);}
                           }
                            }
                                }
translate([0, 71, 14]){
cube(size = [71, 42, 26], center = true);}
                            }

Perfect. Tips tilted back at a slight angle to make the shapes easily visible.

It does kind of look like a calculator – the large cutout at the end is in the back of the drawer, and won't be accessible without removing the drawer completely.

So I slice it for my old Ender 3 clone. It will take 22 HOURS to print! There's no instant gratification in 3D printing!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Since we're on the subject of slow 3D printers....

I decided to make a soldering iron tip holder to fit in a tiny under-shelf drawer. I've used OpenSCAD a little bit and created what I wanted pretty quickly. I have learned that making a sketch with every position really simplifies coding in OpenSCAD.

View attachment 150278

The code is a remarkable few lines.

//Soldering Iron Bit Holder


difference(){
translate([0, 0, 12]){
cube(size = [75, 190, 26], center = true);}
for(Y = [-80: 20 : 20]){
    for(X = [-25.5: 17 : 25.5]){
        translate([X, Y, 0]){
        rotate(a=[-15,0,0]){
            #cylinder(35, d= 7, center = false);}
                           }
                            }
                                }
translate([0, 71, 14]){
cube(size = [71, 42, 26], center = true);}
                            }

Perfect. Tips tilted back at a slight angle to make the shapes easily visible.

View attachment 150279

It does kind of look like a calculator – the large cutout at the end is in the back of the drawer, and won't be accessible without removing the drawer completely.

So I slice it for my old Ender 3 clone. It will take 22 HOURS to print! There's no instant gratification in 3D printing!

Get yourself a Bambu P1S, that will drop to between 6 and 7 hours

We 3D printed quite a few parts for are manufacturing, and used two Ender 3's (one a max) so we discussed trying a more expensive printer. After a bit of research, I settled on a P1S, and took one of the Ender 3's home - we were so impressed with it, that my boss said "order another one", so I did, and took the Ender 3 max home as well

The speed and quality of printing is so good that we now 3D even more of our products, in particular the potting boxes we use hundreds of are now 3D printed, at about 15% of the cost - but more importantly, are much easier and faster to assemble, as we print the various different types with all the holes etc. done in the printing process, we even print studs to accept self tapping screws for ones that need sockets fastening to them.

However, you do have to think ahead - most of our boxes are for two way splitters, with one cable IN and two cables OUT - so I maintain a stock of 200+ of those (or try to). We also make 3 and 4 way ones, but only sell those in small numbers, and much less commonly, so kept 10-20 of each in stock.

But!! - we've just had an order for 200 of the 3 way ones (PCB's are the same, just a question of which parts you fit) - so I'm busy printing those. Each printer will print 8 at a time, and takes about 4 hours - so I can get 16 done in a morning, then start them going again in the afternoon to do another 16. When I left work on Friday, I had 152 lined up, with another 16 on the way.

We don't really have any room to add any more printers or I would

 

[For The Popcorn]

I would like to upgrade, but it's harder to justify it when there's no income stream resulting from it.

Your application is a no-brainer; it pays for itself quickly and improves the work flow. Also eliminates the inventory problems for less used items.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

After a bit of research, I settled on a P1S

The Bambu Labs machines are really nice. I got an X1C with auto feeder in one of the sales last year; it's far faster than my other home built machines, and the surface finish is amazing!

It's not actually making money, but it saves a lot of time - and time is irreplaceable, money is not.

 

[be80be]

I have a new ender it’s 600mm I cane print 4 prints in 4 hours it would been 12 for one one the old 3 ender the ender top of line printers are fast
And great for ganged prints no slow down plus the old ender was like 150mm I’m printing part boxes I use tinker cad online going to learn freecad

 

[be80be]

Bamboo is 500mm print speed my new ender is 600mm print speed

 

[ZipZapOuch]

Since we are on the subject of solder tip holders, I recently made a drill bit holder and solder tip holder - I drilled some holes in a block of wood. I'd post the 3D CAD file if I had one - but I don't.