> To make somewhat serious boards in house you would at least need
THP, and
> not so many do that. They rather pay for faster proto services (e.g. 8
> hour).
>
> Even plain THP boards are not really enough for a lot of stuff these
days,
> you want soldermask, legend, multilayer at least. When you get into
flex
> circuits and laser drilled microvias and stuff like that you'll need
to
> make a lot of boards to make it work. You'd need to employ people
that do
> just that, and what do you need to pay them while they are waiting
for the
> design people to need the next board?
>
> I'd say the cnc drill is one of the smaller investments if you are
going
> to set up PCB fabrication and want capabilities that are at least
remotely
> up to date. If you can make do with older technology it's another story.
>
> ST
As you know, there are may methods of doing a thing. Have ever made a
small board to hold componets for a circut because you don't trust any
other method ?
And, it is very simple to use a resistor as a thru-hole instead of
requiring a via.
Many circuits can be proven, tested and corrected in-house on single
sided boards. Heck, most shops are going to SMD parts, so holes are
becomming less of a need.
And for all SMD work, all you need is a way to etch the board. and
for that , you might be better off with TT or some other such chemical
method.
So, for strictly SMD work, I would not recomend a drilling machine at all.
Dave
>