[ale] OT: PC Board Fab

[Alex Carver]

On 1/2/2014 15:11, Jeff Hubbs wrote:
> I know there are people here who traffic in such things, hence the
> subject.  I'd like to know if there are places in town that can fab me
> runs of 25-50 printed circuit boards (more than one per sheet that I can
> saw up later is fine).  Just one layer on one side, with printing for
> parts placement on the other.
> 
> Please, no "just buy an <expensive exotic device> and <do whatever said
> device does>" answers; I just want to know of a place that can do this
> from a couple of image or other type of files and a predictable amount
> of money.
> 

There's a few that are suggested by CadSoftUSA (the people that make
Eagle board layout software) here:

http://www.cadsoftusa.com/services/board-houses/

Those will take actual Eagle board files but I'm sure they'll take
standard Gerber files, too.

If you're trying to stay inexpensive, with a single layer, solder mask
and silkscreen (parts outlines) you typically don't get to specify more
than one per board that you cut apart.  They will mix your job in with
other jobs to maximize utilization of the PCB panels (many fab-house
panels are 4 feet by 4 feet).  You can draw a PCB that way (multiple
identical modules on one board layout) but I know some fab houses will
penalize you for doing that since it reduces their flexibility.