Author Topic: Printing PCB  (Read 2243 times)

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Offline Buraiha

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Printing PCB
« on: Sat, 31 October 2020, 23:32:08 »
I have the .sch file of a pcb for a particular keyboard. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with getting a pcb physically manufactured, and if so, which companies/services do you recommend?

Thanks!

Offline bogomips

  • Posts: 9
Re: Printing PCB
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 01 November 2020, 00:43:11 »
Hey Buraiha

.sch is an Eagle CAD file?

To manufacture a PCB you need a "Gerber" file, which is a zip file containing a load of other files needed by the PCB manufacturing machines.

I've used JLCPCB and PCBWay both with success.

JLCPCB is cheaper and way faster, but comes with some limitations: SMT manufacured boards (where the robots place the small components on the board for you) can only be green, and you can only use a subset of components sourced from their sister company LCSC. They are super fast, and you can have your board at your door in a week!
If you don't need SMT, then there are more colour options.
Also, no through hole or USB connectors on SMT manufacturing... you will have to solder those yourself.

PCBWay was quite a bit slower, but they will source the parts for you from where-ever, and I think they can do through-hole and connector assembly as well. Also - no limits on the colour of the PCB for SMT assembly or gold plating.
PCBWay was also more expensive compared to JLCPCB... They both have instant online quoting if you upload your Gerber file - so you can compare.

The qualty from both companies are excellent!

You will need to convert your .sch into a Gerber file. You may have the required software for this, but learning how to do this - is not easy. KiCAD, althrough being open source and popular, is not easy to get into...

I use EasyEDA - its free and web-based so you don't even need to install anything. I see it can import .sch projects... Use that!
You can link your components to the various libraries (inlucing LCSC) which it already has loaded, and it can produce the Gerber file for you.

EasyEDA is somehow part of JLCPCB, but you can use those Gerber files and manufacture anywhere... you are not tied in.

I recently tried to skill up and jump to KiCAD, but I gave up in the end... The availability of component libraries and linked foot prints and 3D models and spec sheets in EasyEDA makes it super easy to work with.
The whole workflow in EasyEDA is also streamlined:
If you want a resistor, you open the library window, search for the resistor by size (ohm, and dimensions) in LCLS or other libs it has, it comes with foot print and model and everything. You add it to your schematic, and update your PCB and your are done!

EasyEDA uses a cloud based auto-routing... sometimes all the servers are occupied. There is an autorouting component you can download and run locally, and the website will discover it and use it automatically - thats what I use.
(I know autorouting is frowed upon in some circles - but hell - I like keyboards - I'm not an EE, and I don't want to spend most of my day routing traces)

If you are a beginner - def try out EasyEDA!

Good luck!

Offline Buraiha

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  • Posts: 8
Re: Printing PCB
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 02 November 2020, 14:18:14 »
Thank you bogomips! I'll definitely check out all the resources you mentioned and see where I can go from here. I am a bit new to the scene, so it's always nice to see such helpful members in the keyboard community :)