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when I was a kid I used to attend an Electronics club where we would make Printed Ciruit Boards using some special ink or sometimes a fine marker (but that didn't always work very well) and then etching the Copper in an acid bath.
I would like to make a few simple PCB boards sometime in the future (no immediate plans) and I wonder what is the best method these days.
Or is there an online shop that will make custom PCBs for a very reasonable charge? I don't need anything fancy, just 2 sided, maybe 4"x6" at most. It would be very nice if they would also drill them.
Thanks
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First you have to design the machine/equipment and the software to run the machine to make the
PCB Boards *(:>*
Rudie
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from a quick search seems like I could just use a laser printer and print on glossy paper or Transparency then transfer to the PCB board with a hot iron.
I guess it's easier than I thought.
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I'd shout out to microchip.. I believe he's done some prototyping recently.
I had similar experience in the 70's and 80's, but it's been 20+ years since I made my last one. There are a large number of prototyping shops out there who will happily make you a prototype board or two or a hundred. However.. they will want a layout and drill diagram in the appropriate industry standard format (dunno what it is), and so forth.
The other question is.. through hole or surface mount ? Most PCB's nowadays are SMT.
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My son who's 18 now found a guy that helps out hobbyist by ganging multiple project from people, gangs them together and makes 3 copies of each PCB. My son's total cost is usually under $20 for a set of 3 matching boards. It's a great deal and the guy is helping out the hobbyist and making a few bucks on the side. His email is james.neal@laen.org. If you need help with the process just send me a PM.
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SMT soldering is HARD for the hobbyist. It's *possible* to solder SMT components by hand, but... ick. Stick with the through hole if you can. SMT works when you go to heavy production.. parts are cheaper, automated assembly is easier, etc... And the parts are smaller.
Shakes.. nice.
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I wasn't keeping track of board size but I think they were small. You can make any size you want and he charges by the square inch.
