Olin Lathrop wrote:
> V G wrote:
>  =20
>
> That makes no sense.  That's for penny pinching hobbyists that value thei=
r
> time at next to nothing.  You are doing this for a real job where your ho=
urs
> cost your employer real money.  For $109 you can 100 square inches of
> finished PCB from Gold Phoenix, with silkscreen on top, solder mask top a=
nd
> bottom, plated thru vias, electrically tested, and delivered.  Unless you
> work for the University of Outer Bizzarristan and get paid a bowl of rice
> and three yak dung paddies a day, you are doing your employer a disservic=
e
> by costing more to make a inferior product.
>
> Also keep in mind that your employer's cost to keep you around is more th=
an
> you get paid.  For example, how many yak dung paddies does it take to kee=
p
> your office heated, what do they have to pay the yak hearder for the
> paddies, etc?
>
> Then consider the extra labor cost putting in jumpers because you don't h=
ave
> plated thru holes, fixing the human errors that a good silkscreen would h=
ave
> prevented, the solder bridges the solder mask would have prevented, etc.
> There is also the initial cost in materials and time to set everything up=
,
> the chemical disposal issues, space to store and maintain the equipment,
> etc.  It doesn't add up.
>
>
> ********************************************************************
> Embed Inc, Littleton Massachusetts, http://www.embedinc.com/products
> (978) 742-9014.  Gold level PIC consultants since 2000.
>  =20

Olin is dead right. The chemicals involved are extremely corrosive and=20
dangerous. I did my own PCB's exactly
1 (ONE) time, and I never did it again; it took a month for the stain to=20
leave my fingers.

There is simply NO gain by doing these yourself.

I use AP Circuits in Calgary Canada. The basic service (no silk or=20
solder mask) costs less than $50 for two 4"x4"
PCBs. APC delivers in ONE day; in by Monday  at 10AM  delivered by 10AM=20
Wednesday. The PCBs are plated
thru properly and trimmed to final size. But there are many others.

--Bob A
--=20
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