Message #99138

[Olivia_jason]

out of interest how long would it taqke you to complete a board liek that? i think it would drive me mad trying to do something like that

First you need to establish the exact board size and mounting hole positions and diameters (fortunately a lot of members here come to the rescue with that).

Next print as much circuit info as possible to determine what parts are used and a check to make sure those parts are still available. In the case of these two boards that wasn't a major issue although I always try to make allowance for modern componebts to replace older style parts such as axial electros that are next to impossible to get any more. I generally design the board to take either if room permits.

After that start to layout the PCB using a CAD program. In the case of these smaller boards generally it takes several goes of two hours each to end up with a neat board with everything spaced correctly. With larger projects the time frame can be months (such as with the Zac MPU) and hundreds of hours checking, adjusting, changing all to make sure the finished board is as universal as possible.

If I can (especially for single sided boards like these) I like to hand make a prototype to prove the spacing and general layout and wiring is 100% correct. This I will usually send to a member after testing it as well as I am able to for final testing in an actual machine.

After that I will do any final tweaks to the layout and send the files to the PCB house for manufacture. About here I order in any parts I don't have that will be needed to complete the boards. They usually take about a week turnaround to make the boards. When the boards are delivered to my China office my staff take out 6 or 10 boards of each type and send them EMS so I can get cracking on them ASAP. The balance come on a "slow boat from China" 

I make up an initial board looking for any obvious issues and then construct a jig so that I can 'operate' the board exactly as if it was fitted to a machine.

I then take pics and put them on the website for sale - often for less than they cost me to make   

I guess from start to finish - if all goes well, smaller boards like this usually take around six weeks from the descision to make them to having finished product in my hand?? 

thanks for the info its all very interesting. and can see the obvious hard work in them, so once you get a board and start soldering in all the diodes, chips and all that sort of stuff, im guessing all this is done by hand how long would it take you to settup a board complete once you have all the parts and boards on hand? would have to be slow going or can you knock em out fairly quickly with practice? the stuff i have seen you reproduce is frigin amazing,