On 3/11/06, Vitaliy wrote: > - First of all, thank you for the very informative reply. > > William Chops Westfield wrote: > > The generic etching tool has a cut width of .2 to .3mm, which > > puts a limit on the pin pitch of chips you can support. I'm > > not sure where the real limit is, but I start to feel worried > > about 1mm pitch (which is NOT "fine" by todays standards.) > > According to the datasheet, S62 can do 0.1 mm (4 mils) for both track width > and isolation width. > > >> - At what point it becomes economical to buy this machine, > >> instead of ordering boards from a place like 4PCB.com? > > > > Hmm. Potentially never. Consumable cost for mid-sized boards > > is going to be close to what you'd spend at a board house (if you > > follow the rules, anyway), without even taking into account the > > cost of the machine. > > I suspected that. :( > > > The value of "immediate gratification" is not to be denied [...] > > Well, this is kind of why I am looking at the plotter. There was a time last > year when we were very close to the project deadline, when we had to pay > $1200 for a second set of prototypes (one day service, next day shipping, > etc). This was a cheap offer. Probably your prototype wasn't on 4 layers or more with special footprints, subminiature packages and special chemical treatments (gold-nickel and 8 mil drill sizes in very large quantities etc). regards, Vasile With the plotter, we would have found out the same day that there was > a problem with the PCB layout. > > Of course, considering the cost it is obvious that in the foreseeable future > we will continue using a board house. > > By the way, has anyone used a board house in Phoenix, Arizona? > > Best regards, > > Vitaliy > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist