Getting pcb made

Thread Starter

ltodd2

Joined Sep 9, 2017
11
Hi all
Were is good for getting a few PCB's made. Im only after max 5 at the moment and they are 20mm x 20mm

I'm in the uk and all the ones here are silly money, China seems cheapest option for getting them made but postage is silly.
And just to add to it, is it worth getting them assembled or is smd soldering simple. Soldering I've no issues with just never at this small size.
Thanks
 

Thread Starter

ltodd2

Joined Sep 9, 2017
11
There is ALLPCB, PCBWAY JLCPCB for a couple,the latter is offering a new customer deal right now.
Max.
Hi max.
Thanks. Jlcpcb is one I looked at and was considering getting assembly done but they don't have a number of the parts. I've seen a few that offer this 1st time customer deals but all use DHL etc so postage is silly. I'd that normal as 25-30 postage seems a lot for a few grams at 20mm square

Lee
 

Janis59

Joined Aug 21, 2017
1,834
First, there are cheap Polish companies, some half dozen of them, and there are at least two Latvian companies, all orientating on clientele abroad. The traffic then takes less than few days to UK.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
Hi max.
Thanks. Jlcpcb is one I looked at and was considering getting assembly done but they don't have a number of the parts. I've seen a few that offer this 1st time customer deals but all use DHL etc so postage is silly. I'd that normal as 25-30 postage seems a lot for a few grams at 20mm square
Lee
I just went back to using PCBWAY they do fast service and offer a few postage options, more than most, and also do a good job.
Max.
 

Thread Starter

ltodd2

Joined Sep 9, 2017
11
I just went back to using PCBWAY they do fast service and offer a few postage options, more than most, and also do a good job.
Max.
Hi Max
I've just used allpcb as they offered a free postage for first order. Also had offer for 5 pcbs for 1.99 so took them up on it. Think I looked at pcbway so may try next time.
I gave up of getting it assembled as most dont have all the parts in there stocks so would be soldering 50% anyway. I'm having problems finding the components as most places sell in bulk.

Thanks

Lee
 

LLofYorkshire

Joined Jan 15, 2020
21
Hi Ltodd2,
I used to use PCBWay, and they were great, if you are not in a big rush then you can use one of the other shipping options they offer. I would get mine in 10-14 days. Fund the SMD service to be a pain though so never really got going with it.
I just tried JLCPCB for the first time, mainly because I have been using their EasyEDA platform for design, and they were offering free SMD service over the Xmas & NY period. They also offer multiple shipping options, and you would get free disounts as a new customer. I used their GBAir service (7-10 days) which from memory was about £7 and the boards (for 5) are about £4 without SMD, so I had 2x2 designs of boards (5 off each) with half of them SMD'd (I opted for only the low cost stuff, mostly passives) within 2 weeks. No probs quality wise. Will use them again for sure.
I searched for some time a couple of years ago to find anything locally in the UK to rival the speed/cost value and now I don't bother anymore (unfortunately).
 

LLofYorkshire

Joined Jan 15, 2020
21
One other thing to note: It's Chinese New Year now until the end of the month, so expect pretty heavy delays to all services. Most businesses shut down at different points in this period, not usually for the whole period, but also likely at different times to each other.
 

Thread Starter

ltodd2

Joined Sep 9, 2017
11
One other thing to note: It's Chinese New Year now until the end of the month, so expect pretty heavy delays to all services. Most businesses shut down at different points in this period, not usually for the whole period, but also likely at different times to each other.
Hi LLofYorkshire

Thanks for that. I got mine in just in time will allpcb and it's now shipped with dhl as were offering free postage for new customers.
I looked at jlcpcb over xmas because of the offers but for standard passives theybjust did not have the values I needed which were standard. I will try again next time and when these ones turn up I think I'm going to pull my hair out trying to solder it lol. Still trying to find all the components as most places only sell in massive bulk.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
One other thing to note: It's Chinese New Year now until the end of the month, so expect pretty heavy delays to all services. Most businesses shut down at different points in this period, not usually for the whole period, but also likely at different times to each other.
Just got my PCBway order shipped just under the wire! :cool:
Trying E-Packet delivery for the first time, supposed to be good.
Max.
 
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