Re: Chemical tinning of PCB´s

[The Old Crow]

On Mon, 22 Jan 2001, Martin Czech wrote:

> If you give the pcb design to a shop they can do solder stop
> mask for you (green). Also tinning.
> I think today DIY of pcbs is not such a good idea.

  Board-house prices have certainly become cheap enough to the point that
if you want to make 10 or more boards, it isn't a lot of money.  While I
still cast my own boards for prototypes, production boards are always sent
out for manufacture.  Most board houses typically charge a flat, one-time 
fee for tooling (photoplotting, tool-wheel setup, drilling) and a
per-piece price on the boards.  A typical board price is US$3 each for a
1.5"x4" board, qty. 100.  Tooling is about $225.  The nice thing is that
if another run of those boards is requested, the tooling charge is not
applied again.

  The typical board is done using 062 FR4 board material with 2-ounce
copper and a "HASL" (hot-air solder layer) melted onto and covering all
the traces evenly.  The price also includes a soldermask for both sides of
a double-sided board as well as a silkscreen layer.

Crow

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