I’m recently very new to the pcb designing aspect and community. I more or less just have a few ideas that I would like to try and create into pcbs. I started with my basic simplest build as a crash course. I’m wanting to make this project to where I can print 3 of each of my 2 boards in one order for prototyping to get my monies worth when getting them made. I have watched a few videos but I’m having problems getting my lines to match up when doing the drgs.user with the 2mm mousebites. Is there any way to get my pcb centered on one of the grid points? Or is there an easier way to do this?
Any and all help is and would be greatly appreciated and thanks for y’all’s time and help.
If they are no larger than 10cm x 10cm then the cheap places will still be pretty affordable. Still, you can always try combining them and see if they notice.
This video describes the “issues” one man ran into about 5 months ago when panelizing a set of small PCBs for economy in kicad before sending the gerbers off to the PCB maker, how he found them, and how he fixed them. I have not yet done this. So I cannot recommend using JLCPCB.
You can get 5 pcb’s from JLCPCB for $2. (100mm x 100mm)
I have previously tried to create panelised boards with them with 2 different types of pcb’s and they charge you a setup fee which did’t work out much cheaper than placing 2 different orders. With the special on 5 pcb’s for $2 its not worth panelising.
Its $2 for 5 pcb’s . Offer 4 different shipping methods. I always go for the cheapest as I dont mind waiting. Takes 2-3 weeks to ship to the UK. Boards are make in 24 hours.
You can pay lots more for DHL etc and get it quicker.
I don’t know what Fab houses do these days but, I’ve had great experiences years ago.
Below screenshot was from PCB123 and had no problem panelizing for me at no extra cost.
To make a ‘Panelize-able’ board:
Know or estimate/ask-fab-house how they cut boards (Laser, Mill, Waterjet…) and what the width of ‘Kerf’ is.
Ask if there’s a preference for what Layer the PCB shape/profile needs to be on.
In KiCad, Board Settings, set the Line-Width to be same as the Kerf width
That will yield a fairly accurate finalized board.
Example below:
•The board shape (wide red lines )is on the Edge-Cuts layer. I Mill my boards and use a 1mm EndMill, thus, lines are set to 1mm.
•Set the Grid to reflect how KiCad snaps to stuff such that (along with the parts) the Cut lines are centered on the snap points.
•Gerbers loaded into CopperCam with a EndMill or Laser as the cutting tool, cutting on outer-edges.
•Preliminary and Final Results shown.
So you can get 5 X 5 = 25 boards. You just have to specify a “V-Score” between boards. Last time I ordered they had a special. 10 for $2. I ended up with 20 boards when I only needed one.
I put an edge cut down the middle and added a note and it came back with the V-score. The edge cut makes the 3D viewer complain but I live with that.
AllPCB will panelize for you.
But, being in China, expect delays at the moment.
I’m in Australia and get prototypes delivered in a few days.
Usually, the DHL freight costs more than the boards!
I have tried two methods. You can read about my experience and follow the links with V-cut here:
JLCPCB will also do V-cut. It’s free if there is only one design on the panel. You have to indicate it in the order, usually there’s a “Customer panelization” option to tick.
You can read about my experience with breaktab and mousebites, and follow the link to a discussion of GerberPanelizer, the software mentioned by @Shack here:
Shipping can be a greater cost than the boards themselves. It helps if you are not in a hurry, then you can pick the slower methods. Still pretty good, about 3 weeks to Australia, but who knows now with the current Coronavirus emergency.
Here is a rather extreme example of internal routes + mouse bites.
My light designer customer wanted a Xmas gift card that could be assembled into a miniature LED light, powered by a 9V battery. A LED + resistor are the only electronic components.
It took a few iterations to get the oval hole dimensions to make good electrical contact and the mouse bites weak enough to allow part removal without bleeding hands.
And it took a while to get the copper to fill all the pieces.
I sent Gerbers of the whole panel to the fab house - AllPCB.
I was originally thinking that routes + V groove could be used, but the fab house couldn’t cope with both on the one panel.
My customer ordered 1000 and I’m told the end users enjoyed the effort!
That’s a pretty cool design and idea for a gift, and I found a pcb manufacturer that offers panelizing as an option and only needs to be told how I would want it paneled. Thanks for all the tips and help everyone
