Low Cost US PCB Manufacturers

[For The Popcorn]

Sadly, the days of inexpensive PCBs from China are over for US citizens – you all know why so we need not discuss that. The prices from China still beat the prices from US sources in most cases, but even then, there is uncertainty in what the real cost may be with the fluctuating rule changes.

Here are a couple relatively low-cost US options for small boards – these options are based on the area of the board in square inches. As a reminder, area = length × width:

1" × 1" = 1 square inch

2" × 3" = 6 square inches

4" × 4" = 16 square inches (approximate maximum for cheap Chinese options)

These are two sources I have found. Please add any other low cost options you know about.

Please note: these sources are more limited than the Chinese fab houses. Check the space & trace and hole size minimums carefully, and features like internal cutouts may not be available.

OSH PARK

OSH Park Docs ~ Services ~ 2 Layer Prototype Service

docs.oshpark.com

2 Layer boards

Quantity 3 for $5/square inch total

Soldermask: Purple

Free shipping

Note: you must order in lots of 3. Boards are routed with "mouse bites" separating them. You may want to clean up the sharp points with a file or sandpaper.


DIGIKEY DK RED

https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/dkred

2 Layer boards

Quantity 4 minimum

[imath]1,50/square inch [b]per board[/b] (i.e.,[/imath]6/square inch for lot of 4 boards.

Soldermask: Red

Free shipping

Note: minimum order is 4 boards but you may order any quality beyond that. Price is per square inch × number of boards

 

[MrDEB]

thanks Jon will look at them

 

[ahsrabrifat]

Wow! They provide free shipping within the USA. That's very convenient for electronics professionals living there indeed.

 

[MrDEB]

GOING TO LOOK AT https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/dkred
here is a schematic using the TDA 2822D013TR
THESE ARE AVAILABLE FROM MOUSER ETC
Need some advice on the input (microphone impedance and head phone )

 

[MrDEB]

looked at https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/dkred
for the Christmas ornament = $75

 

[For The Popcorn]

schematic using the TDA 2822D013TR

Please post this in your thread on the subject.

 

[ZipZapOuch]

looked at https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/dkred
for the Christmas ornament = $75

Do you consider $75 too high to continue the project or would you pay 75 (even though you may not think it's "fair")?

 

[For The Popcorn]

Here are a couple relatively low-cost US options for small boards

the Christmas ornament = $75

As I said, these places are cost effective for small boards.

The Chinese $5 for ten 100mm x 100mm boards are 15.5 square inches.

From OSH Park, three boards this size will cost $77.50.

From DKRED, four boards this size will cost $93.00

The above sources are not the place to buy boards beyond a few square inches.

 

[For The Popcorn]

Wow! They provide free shipping within the USA. That's very convenient for electronics professionals living there indeed.

Not really. The tariffs mean a huge cost increase to those of us in the US.

 

[ZipZapOuch]

Not really. The tariffs mean a huge cost increase to those of us in thevl US.

Or it brings back the good old days of laser print transfer to copper clad boards and etching with Ferric Chloride and staining the laundry tub blue.

Or using pen plotters with a sharpies adapted to the shape of plotters pens by cutting little discs from hotel room key-cards and sliding them up the shaft of the Sharpie.

Or, simply, hand drawn circuits with a Sharpie directly on the copper clad board.

I won't mention the photo sensitized PCB options since all the good (or cheap) ones came from China and Japan anyhow. But that was fun as well. I may have to pull out my supplies that I stored away long ago. Or, I may simply order from
China and pay the new, higher rate.

Hopefully, (eventually?) some of the 400+ PCB houses that went out of business in the US since 2000 will be able to restart and competitive pricing for PCBs will return to the U.S. Think of all those (mostly family/privately owned) shops just closing when cheap PCBs started flooding the U.S. markets and turning their employees out on the street.

Luckily, my hobby is a hobby and my business applications are high enough margin that the PCB is in no way a critical cost to the project.

 

[schmitt trigger]

I also stained my mom’s laundry tub with ferric chloride. But weren’t the stains a dark brown?
It would drive my mom crazy.
The blue stains were caused by ammonium persulphate, but it has been so long ago, late 1970s, that I could be wrong.

 

[For The Popcorn]

Ferric chloride definitely leaves a brown stain!

 

[ronsimpson]

I found that heating the FeCl₃ makes the etching much faster.
I found that FeCl₃ eats up the heating elements in a kitchen oven. Also "rusts" all the metal parts. Hard on a new wife. She knew what she was getting into.

 

[ZipZapOuch]

But weren’t the stains a dark brown?

Yep, I confused my projects. I stained a tub blue during a tie-dye party before a Dead concert. Must have been '78 or '79.