Over the past two weekends or so, I’ve been cranking out  Sir Box-a-Lot handhelds for family and friends. There is no way to make a project like thi

Comparing hobby PCB vendors - lcamtuf’s thing

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2023-03-24 07:00:06

Over the past two weekends or so, I’ve been cranking out Sir Box-a-Lot handhelds for family and friends. There is no way to make a project like this profitable, but the game is more fun than it might appear — and it’s cool to watch recipients’ faces light up after receiving a homemade gift.

Along the way, I ended up ordering the same PCB from several hobbyist-friendly vendors. Numerous comparisons of quality and cost for different PCB manufacturers can be found on the internet, but many of them are dated or suspect — so I figured it’s worthwhile to experiment and share my notes for 2023.

OSH Park is by far the best-known hobby PCB source in the United States. They do not do in-house manufacturing; instead, they combine multiple small orders into a single panel, send this bulk order to a fabricator, then chop up the panel and ship your boards back to you.

The service is fairly expensive: a single Sir Box-a-Lot PCB (6.5×9 cm) costs about $15 shipped, and you need to order at least three. Rush orders are twice as much; a discounted bulk service brings the price down to $9 a board, but in that case, I’d need to order at least 20 PCBs. It is still cheaper than placing a low-volume order directly with a domestic manufacturer, but it adds a hefty price tag to some projects — and it’s a lot of money down the drain if you mess up the design.

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