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This is soooo cool, but getting a PCB made is super easy and cheap right now (chip shortages, notwithstanding). How will these types of circuits handle higher v

This is soooo cool, but getting a PCB made is super easy and cheap right now (chip shortages, notwithstanding). How will these types of circuits handle higher voltages and currents? Will that be simply a case of printing on the right substrate?

swalsh 5y ago
How easy will it be to get a PCB made if relations with China keep deteriating? The US has PCB manufacturers, but they are WAY more expensive.
- jagger27 5y ago
  China isn't the only game in town. India and other SEA countries could pick up some of the demand, alongside domestic producers.
- conk 5y ago
  Cost of production in Canada or Mexico is close enough to Asian suppliers with the benefit of shorter lead times, less language barrier and similarly time zones.
- mhh__ 5y ago
  That probably depends on whether you are a hobbyist who needs it on the cheap, a small business who can charge a premium for excellence, or a big company that needs their margins.
Animats 5y ago
The do it yourself process shown just makes one-sided boards with no holes. If you want two-sided boards, you need precision fixtures so that the sides line up. Then there's drilling and through-hole plating. Some hobbyists uses rivets instead of plated through holes, but that's a pain and the rivets take up a lot of board space. As a production process it has some uses, but mainly for larger, more flexible stuff. LED clothing, maybe?
- bigiain 5y ago
  I wonder if you could pre drill the holes, and just squirt a bunch of ink into them to make a via?
  - Animats 5y ago
    That's an interesting idea. It was tried in 2015 as a DIY process.[1] They had a little CNC drilling rig, and they'd use it for both drilling and ink depositing. Don't know if anyone picked up on that. Might not work if you put component pins through via holes. Plated through holes have enough hard metal to withstand that. Conductive ink, maybe not. As usual, making your own boards is more trouble than it's worth. Board making services are cheap and all the DIY processes produce an inferior product to even low-end board services. [1] https://youtu.be/oJyoXwNONho https://youtu.be/oJyoXwNONho

swalsh 5y ago

How easy will it be to get a PCB made if relations with China keep deteriating? The US has PCB manufacturers, but they are WAY more expensive.

jagger27 5y ago
China isn't the only game in town. India and other SEA countries could pick up some of the demand, alongside domestic producers.
conk 5y ago
Cost of production in Canada or Mexico is close enough to Asian suppliers with the benefit of shorter lead times, less language barrier and similarly time zones.
mhh__ 5y ago
That probably depends on whether you are a hobbyist who needs it on the cheap, a small business who can charge a premium for excellence, or a big company that needs their margins.

Animats 5y ago

The do it yourself process shown just makes one-sided boards with no holes. If you want two-sided boards, you need precision fixtures so that the sides line up. Then there's drilling and through-hole plating. Some hobbyists uses rivets instead of plated through holes, but that's a pain and the rivets take up a lot of board space. As a production process it has some uses, but mainly for larger, more flexible stuff. LED clothing, maybe?

bigiain 5y ago
I wonder if you could pre drill the holes, and just squirt a bunch of ink into them to make a via?
- Animats 5y ago
  That's an interesting idea. It was tried in 2015 as a DIY process.[1] They had a little CNC drilling rig, and they'd use it for both drilling and ink depositing. Don't know if anyone picked up on that. Might not work if you put component pins through via holes. Plated through holes have enough hard metal to withstand that. Conductive ink, maybe not. As usual, making your own boards is more trouble than it's worth. Board making services are cheap and all the DIY processes produce an inferior product to even low-end board services. [1] https://youtu.be/oJyoXwNONho https://youtu.be/oJyoXwNONho