Place to get cheap PCB

[johnjoejohn]

Anyone know a cheap place to make pcb? I am thinking of making a 4in x 4in board. All the places ive looked at, with a 4in x 4in it would cost roughly $90 to $100! I am looking for places that could possibly cost me $50 or less. I am hobbyist but I get discouraged making projects because it cost so much more when you can just buy one for cheaper.

 

[notfet]

to make one board double sided 6x6 cost $15 plus chemicals $15and time to drill $6 for drills makes it around it depending on how many holes thats about an hour. I can make one in about 1.5- 2 hrs. At $50 that is a total profit of $14 you can make more money at Mcdonalds.

 

[jpanhalt]

Have you considered making your own boards? 4"X4" is actually fairly large and is not a common dimension. Something like 3X4 or 4X6 is more common in the US. Here are the offerings from DigiKey: https://www.digikey.com/product-sea...boards-unperforated/2359509?k=pcb prototyping

Since you may not be familiar with the nomenclature, here's a quick note: If you are going to use toner transfer, you just want a plain "clad" board. That is, just plain copper on FR4. If you want to use the photoresist method, you want a "coated" or "pre-sensitized" board. Finally, you can buy "unclad" boards, which are simply the FR4 backing with no copper. So, be sure you order the right thing. A 4X6 board, single sided and with just plain copper (no photoresist) coast about $6.00. If you hunt for surplus dealers, you can get it cheaper.

Finally, if you are making just one and using mostly through-hole components, you may want to consider using perf or strip board.

John

 

[Kripton2035]

seeedstudio offers 10x10cm that's about 4"x4" for $25, and you have 10 of them for that price.
**broken link removed**