PCB manufacturing and assembly

I am working on an open source arduino-based hardware/software/internet project. I built the schematic end component layout in EasyEDA. It's a 36 mm diameter double-sided board built around an esp32. I'm expecting three rounds of prototypes to get the design finished. I'll need five boards for each round. I chose the components around availability. I am based in California and would prefer a manufacturer in North America. Who do you recommend? And why? Frank

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fmilburn over 3 years ago

I use Oshpark, especially for smaller PCBs but do my own assembly of prototypes. The quality is better than most prototyping services, price and turnaround are reasonable.
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frankcohen over 3 years ago in reply to fmilburn

Thanks. They are at https://docs.oshpark.com/. Their Web site does not include assembly service.
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frankcohen over 3 years ago in reply to fmilburn

Thanks. They are at https://docs.oshpark.com/. Their Web site does not include assembly service.
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fmilburn over 3 years ago in reply to frankcohen

There is an assembly house in Seattle that a friend uses but for him they do hundreds of boards at a time. I would call around as the interest/cost to do small runs will probably vary.
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frankcohen over 3 years ago in reply to fmilburn

Thanks. I will call around. I will post here what I find. -Frank
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Jan Cumps over 3 years ago in reply to frankcohen

If having it manufactured in North America is not a fixed constraint: Seeed does PCBs and prototype manufacturing.
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Gough Lui over 3 years ago in reply to Jan Cumps

If not NA/US then JLCPCB is another option as well, especially if you want good pricing. I've had pretty good experiences, assuming you get your data arranged correctly.
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frankcohen over 3 years ago in reply to Gough Lui

Unfortunately JLCPCB does single sided board assembly only. This is a double sided board.
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frankcohen over 3 years ago in reply to Jan Cumps

I really like Seeed too. I visited their plant when I was in Shenzhen last time. Impressive group. North American isn't a fixed requirement for me. I'm thinking I'll get faster turnaround from someone closer. Certainly could be wrong about that.
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BigG over 3 years ago in reply to frankcohen

If looking further afield, have you looked at https://www.pcbway.com/pcb-assembly.html

I think they are able to do 2 sided assembly.
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frankcohen over 3 years ago in reply to BigG

Scotty has an excellent video of PCBway at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24ehoo6RX8w. They look great. I asked them for double-sided support.
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Gough Lui over 3 years ago in reply to frankcohen

Ah, in that case, I've had experience with PCBCart as well in the case you have a complex design ... a bit pricier, so perhaps PCBWay might be a better option if they do what you need (also used them in the past).
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