# Cheap circuit board material



## Phishfry (Jun 23, 2016)

I am doing some mock-ups of some through hole hardware I want to test and bought some prototype boards. In the end they did not work well for me.  Too many holes and junk quality.
Working in a shop I can drill my own holes and that is what I want. What kind of cheap .062/1.5mm substrate can you recommend.
I used formica but I didn't care for the wood backing.

I bought some bare circuit boards from ebay but at 2 bucks each they are not cheap.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182045945045
Bare Fiberboard


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## Phishfry (Jun 23, 2016)

I am learning as I go so next up probably will be using one-side-copper boards and etching in a ziploc bag..
For now I am soldering my through hole components and using jumper wires.


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## caesius (Jun 23, 2016)

oshpark.com


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## DiscmanDaemon (Jun 23, 2016)

If you really want to go as cheap as you can go, there's always cardstock. I have found the material they make soda boxes out of is quite good. Simply poke some holes in it for the leads, put the leads of your components through, and bend the tips to be flush with the board (needle nose pliers help a lot). Solder your jumper wires on (if needed) and then either solder, hot glue or, if you are really lazy and kludgy (like me), duct tape the bottom to ensure the leads stay in contact.

   

You can't beat the price; and soda box cardstock is only a little messier than etched boards, and a little slower than pre-made through-the-hole boards. With some practice you can build a balanced ternary "AND" gate (like I did in the example) in under 2 minutes.

Hope that helps

-Greg


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## Murph (Jun 23, 2016)

If you need something a little more stiff, a quick coat of epoxy on card should be fairly cheap and not too difficult to deal with.  Most epoxies are non-conductive, but not all, so make sure you get the right type.


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## Phishfry (Jun 23, 2016)

I work on large boat shafts and they get an expoy coating(Phillyclad) in between the bearing areas with 4 wraps of cloth. Next time we do one I will check out the resin. We do a spark test to check its adhesion so I am sure its non-conductive.


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## Uniballer (Jun 23, 2016)

In my experience, the main problem with epoxy materials for this application is heat resistance.  Many break down at temperatures below 100 degrees C, so soldering may be problematic.

Maybe you should discuss this on EEVblog.


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## aragats (Jun 23, 2016)

There is good discussion thread at Element14 on cheap PCB makers:
https://www.element14.com/community/thread/5197/l/cheapest-pcb-makers-low-volume


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## Murph (Jun 23, 2016)

Uniballer said:


> In my experience, the main problem with epoxy materials for this application is heat resistance.  Many break down at temperatures below 100 degrees C, so soldering may be problematic.
> 
> Maybe you should discuss this on EEVblog.



Yeah, many standard epoxies won't take soldering heat directly applied to them through conduction, but they are fairly good with short term radiated heat.  You can certainly get epoxies which are good at higher temperature, e.g. the epoxy in standard NEMA FR-4 boards.

Looking at the link Phishfry gave above, Philliclad #6 and #8 are good to 428°F (220°C), well above FR-4's 140°C.


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## wblock@ (Jun 23, 2016)

Uniballer said:


> Maybe you should discuss this on EEVblog.


Seconded.  There are some of us here who work on hardware like this, but the EEVBlog forum is a much better place for it.


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## Phishfry (Jun 23, 2016)

Thanks for everyone's comments.

So all I need was right in front of me. Thanks again and I appreciate the link to a proper electronics forum.


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