[sdiy] rising cost of PCB's?

[Dan Snazelle]

maybe i should have been more specific in my subject title.

i wasnt so much  talking about the cost of getting prototype pcbs made as i was referring instead to the prices people are charging for their projects on pcb.  (vco's, filters, lfo's, etc)

i was under the assumption that when someone sells a pcb project for synth diy, they are getting at least 25 boards made, often quite a few more
so i would think that would get around the prototyping cost. but maybe not


thanks









--------------------------------------------
check out various dan music at:

http://www.myspace.com/lossnyc

(updated monthly)

http://www.soundclick.com/lossnyc.htm



http://www.indie911.com/dan-snazelle

(or for techno) http://www.myspace.com/snazelle

ALSO check out Dan synth/Fx projects:

AUDIO ARK:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRpvaOcUic

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqIa_lXQNTA&feature=channel_page

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4nJPjGgOcU&feature=channel_page

and soundtrack/design work:

NEW: check out Dan's sound design from the 1998 award winning film SAFARI by catherine chalmers

http://www.catherinechalmers.com/videos.cfm






----------------------------------------
> Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:47:10 -0400
> Subject: Re: [sdiy] rising cost of PCB's?
> From: tom.corbitt at gmail.com
> To: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>
> For the most part, the cost of the copper in a PCB is negligible, What
> you're paying for is the etch, drill hits, plating on the vias,
> laminating and any lpi (solder mask) /silkscreen work (and all the
> machines required for the above plus the people required to run them)
> Complexity, not size is the main driving force behind cost.
>
> There isn't a lot of profit in boards and a lot of places have winked
> out in the past 5 years. Most of the places you see with the $10/board
> ads are companies that simply buy excess space on other companies
> panels (Most companies save a certain amount of panel space to
> accommodate rush orders but if they don't sell they still need to fill
> them before the run) so you're really paying a middleman fee, which
> has gone up since fewer vendors means less space.
>
> If you want to lower your pcb costs, find a vendor and learn their
> process. Do they prefer score or tab routes? What panel size do they
> usually run? What day of the week is lightest? Once they know that
> your gerbers normally don't need much fixed and that you're easy to
> work with, you'll start getting better prices.
>
> Of course, once you get over 4-6 layers, away from FR-4 or under 6-6
> all bets are off.
>
> Tom Corbitt
>
> On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 2:00 AM, Dan Snazelle  wrote:
>>
>>
>> hey there
>>
>> i started doing synth diy about 2 and half almost 3 yrs ago. when i first started buying pcbs many of them were in the 5 to 10  or at most 12  to 15 dollar range. (plus shipping)
>>
>> now i am seeing more and more boards that are 15, 17, 18,  20, 25, 30 and up up up
>>
>> i was just wondering if this is due to the cost of pcb manufacturing going up? the strength of the dollar?
>>
>> or am i just crazy and imagining that the prices are going up?
>>
>> granted i am not talking about big pcb boards. multi board projects or things like the asm2.
>>
>> just wondering.
>>
>> thanks!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------
>> check out various dan music at:
>>
>>  http://www.myspace.com/lossnyc
>>
>> (updated monthly)
>>
>> http://www.soundclick.com/lossnyc.htm
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.indie911.com/dan-snazelle
>>
>> (or for techno) http://www.myspace.com/snazelle
>>
>> ALSO check out Dan synth/Fx projects:
>>
>> AUDIO ARK:
>>
>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRpvaOcUic
>>
>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqIa_lXQNTA&feature=channel_page
>>
>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4nJPjGgOcU&feature=channel_page
>>
>> and soundtrack/design work:
>>
>> NEW: check out Dan's sound design from the 1998 award winning film SAFARI by catherine chalmers
>>
>> http://www.catherinechalmers.com/videos.cfm
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Synth-diy mailing list
>> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>>
>
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