Homebrew PCBs

Hello, please forgive me if this has been covered before.  I have been making printed circuit boards for a long time now in small scale production, but I need to go cheaper, faster and even bigger.  My question is, does any one know where to buy pre-sensitized clad, developers, and etching solutions on a large scale?  Mouser, Digikey, Jameco, Datak and the like are expensive and the clad is too small to panelize.  Google is so frustrating for this, I usually only find Ali Babas market or production houses that charge 50 bucks for a 50 cent board.  For the curious, I'm making security products for industrial use.

Thank you, Rachel.

You could always use dry film rather than pre-sensitised, sellers can 
supply a length cut from roll, the rolls are 30cm wide which would be 
the limit for your long-edge of the board.  Use a laminator to apply 
it.  Laminate a few boards in a run, and store in a dark place until you 
need them.  Developer is just Sodium Carbonate, a couple of bucks for a 
kg at your supermarket would last a long time (mix 20g to 1 liter for 
developing).

On 02/04/13 13:08, utriversong wrote:
>
> Hello, please forgive me if this has been covered before. I have been 
> making printed circuit boards for a long time now in small scale 
> production, but I need to go cheaper, faster and even bigger.
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thank you for your reply.  One of the problems I have is finding large clad, I'd like to increase the size so it is more efficient to produce larger numbers at a time.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, James <bitsyboffin@...> wrote:

>
> You could always use dry film rather than pre-sensitised, sellers can 
> supply a length cut from roll, the rolls are 30cm wide which would be 
> the limit for your long-edge of the board.  Use a laminator to apply 
> it.  Laminate a few boards in a run, and store in a dark place until you 
> need them.  Developer is just Sodium Carbonate, a couple of bucks for a 
> kg at your supermarket would last a long time (mix 20g to 1 liter for 
> developing).
> 
> On 02/04/13 13:08, utriversong wrote:
> >
> > Hello, please forgive me if this has been covered before. I have been 
> > making printed circuit boards for a long time now in small scale 
> > production, but I need to go cheaper, faster and even bigger.
> >
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, James <bitsyboffin@...> wrote:
>
> which would be 
> the limit for your long-edge of the board.


Of course, I mean 30cm is the limit of one edge of the board, the other edge can be as long or short as you cut off the roll.

Might help if we knew how large you want.

Looking at a couple of the sellers I know of in China, the largest they 
advertise is 26cm x 40cm single sided (if it's actually available is 
another matter).  I see a seller on ebay with 20cm x 40cm -  
290627606847 , although if you used dry film then having a 30cm edge 
would be better as that is the roll width - there's several sellers on 
ebay with 20cm x 30cm eg 180894985208



On 02/04/13 14:16, utriversong wrote:
>
> Thank you for your reply. One of the problems I have is finding large 
> clad, I'd like to increase the size so it is more efficient to produce 
> larger numbers at a time.
>
> 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Rachel,

At the risk of asking something you may already have considered -- have you investigated moving production to a board house? For prototypes and small quantities, doing it in house can save some money; for larger scale, I'm guessing there will be a point where the board houses can actually do it cheaper.

Again, apologies if I am pointing in a direction you already investigated or just don't want to go.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "utriversong" <utriversong@...> wrote:

>
> Hello, please forgive me if this has been covered before.  I have been making printed circuit boards for a long time now in small scale production, but I need to go cheaper, faster and even bigger.  My question is, does any one know where to buy pre-sensitized clad, developers, and etching solutions on a large scale?  Mouser, Digikey, Jameco, Datak and the like are expensive and the clad is too small to panelize.  Google is so frustrating for this, I usually only find Ali Babas market or production houses that charge 50 bucks for a 50 cent board.  For the curious, I'm making security products for industrial use.
> 
> Thank you, Rachel.
>

Thank you for the replies.  I have a little follow up, I have found a supplier that stocks the clad in large sheets 3' X 4', not sensitized.  The company is called Professional Plastics, here is the link to the fiberglass clad; http://www.professionalplastics.com/COPPERCLADG-10FR-4

Hi, thank you for the reply.  I want to keep everything in house so my people have a job.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Andrew" <a_wake@...> wrote:

>
> Rachel,
> 
> At the risk of asking something you may already have considered -- have you investigated moving production to a board house? For prototypes and small quantities, doing it in house can save some money; for larger scale, I'm guessing there will be a point where the board houses can actually do it cheaper.
> 
> Again, apologies if I am pointing in a direction you already investigated or just don't want to go.
> 
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "utriversong" <utriversong@> wrote:
> >
> > Hello, please forgive me if this has been covered before.  I have been making printed circuit boards for a long time now in small scale production, but I need to go cheaper, faster and even bigger.  My question is, does any one know where to buy pre-sensitized clad, developers, and etching solutions on a large scale?  Mouser, Digikey, Jameco, Datak and the like are expensive and the clad is too small to panelize.  Google is so frustrating for this, I usually only find Ali Babas market or production houses that charge 50 bucks for a 50 cent board.  For the curious, I'm making security products for industrial use.
> > 
> > Thank you, Rachel.
> >
>