Re: pcb assembly

[Joseph Heenan <joseph-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

ian.bird@xxxxxxx wrote:

> Don't forget if your quote was from last year it may not include the
20%
> VAT they now have to add. All part of being in the EU or something. I
did
> note the shipping cost was lower than last year which helped though.

Strange - the quote was a recent one, but the prices were comparable to
last years. The prices on their website are the same as I've paid for
the last year and there's no mention of VAT anywhere. :-S

> How much of that was the assembly vs. the other costs like board
production
> and components?

Roughly 50% was assembly, 20% components and 30% for the boards. Works
out to about 20p to fit each PTH component.

(I tried pcbtrain too - they worked out roughly the same for the boards,
3 times the price for assembly, and don't keep most of the components in
stock.)

> If you do end up DIY don't forget that the holes will all be plated if
it
> is a double sided board (not sure about single sided) which means that
more
> heat is required to make the solder run quickly. I was caught by this
a
> long time ago and ended up getting a beefier iron. Of course, I am
probably
> trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs..............

Yep. Done enough of these by hand now! I'm on a cheapy maplin
temperature adjustable station since my weller broke though - it's not
the same, although the adjustable temperature is nice...

Joseph