Custom Orders

TL;DR - yes, I do custom work but there are a wide variety of options available. For the gory details, read on ....

I often get asked if I offer a custom module service - the answer to this is "yes, but with some conditions". The aim here is to outline what these conditions are and, where appropriate, why they're in place and other boring trivia.

First and foremost: time is money.

My current rate for design/layout is £20/hr (no VAT, as I am not VAT registered) so the more information you can provide me from the outset (eg. schematics, panel layouts etc.) the less time I will spend chasing for information.

I charge a lot less than most folks because I'm not doing this for the money, I'm doing it because I enjoy it and I want to make custom stuff feasible for individuals.

Typically, laying out a board, designing the faceplate and getting the whole thing ready for fabbing is a full day's work for me if I have everything I need.

I don't do custom jobs concurrently, so it's first-come, first-served - if I'm undertaking a custom job when you submit yours, I won't be starting it until I finish the current job. This way there's far less chance of something getting screwed up.

Ultimately, you are paying for the following:

• My time and expertise (haha!) - this covers a number of things ranging from design/layout through to sourcing parts and test/assembly if appropriate.
• Board fabrication costs - these are set by the fabricator, and as a one-man outfit I have precisely zero bargaining clout. If you have a preferred fabricator, let me know.
• Parts - obviously this applies only if I'm assembling your order or it is outsourced to a PCB assembly service.
• Shipping - nearly all UK orders would be in the free shipping bracket, overseas orders will vary a lot. I can ship by courier but it is now stupidly expensive, particularly to the EU. Generally, Royal Mail gets the job done with a minimum of fuss.

The following points should also be noted:

• There is a minimum run size. For the fabricator I currently use this is 5 boards. There are few, if any, fabs that will do single boards - it just isn't worth their while. If you know differently then please let me know. 
  
  Assuming you're happy with having mainboards and faceplate the same colour, I can generally get both on a single panel. A typical panel might look something like the image below (this particular example has mainboard and faceplate for two separate modules)
  
  If your mainboard and/or faceplate are wider than about 18HP (90mm, give or take) then mainboard and faceplate will be submitted as separate panels in order to minimise the risk of the fab rejecting the job; it'll probably work out a bit cheaper, too.

• There's generally a minimum board size too - anything less than 25mm square isn't gonna happen. Whilst there's no maximum size I'm aware of, anything ridiculously big runs a risk of being rejected by the fab.
  
  
• By default, I have boards and faceplates fabricated on 1.6mm FR4 fibreglass with ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) traces. Faceplate lettering can either be exposed gold or silkscreen. Reference designators on mainboards are always silkscreen. HASL is also an option, but I won't do HASL Lead because of RoHS concerns.
  
  Generally, I find that ENIG is far nicer to work with and rather more forgiving if you're a relative newcomer to soldering stuff up and/or using lead-free solder. It looks pretty cool as well.
  
  
• 2.0mm FR4 is available for faceplates but this requires a separate board run as it's not possible to mix and match thicknesses on the same panel. If you want aluminium or steel faceplates then you'll have to source those yourself.
  
  
• Want to supply your own parts? No problem - I can just ship you the completed boards and you can handle assembly yourself (but see below)
  
  
• The fab I use offers different colour substrates - black, white, red, green, yellow, blue and purple. The default choice is black. You can have different coloured boards and faceplates if you like, but a different colour will require an extra board run because, again, the fab cannot mix and match colours on a single panel.
  
  
• I will spec surface-mount parts by default because they're cheaper. If you want a board with through-hole components then I can do that, but it'll likely be more expensive, particularly if I have to special-order components (although I do have a fair range of PTH parts on-hand).
  
  Since I build all of my modules by hand, I do not use components smaller than 0805 unless it's absolutely necessary. ICs will be SOIC unless no alternatives are available.
  
  If your design requires parts that require reflow soldering (eg. leadless packages, TQFN et.al) then I'm happy to provide the boards so you can make your own assembly arrangements. Whilst some fabs offer PCB assembly services, I rarely use them myself. If you'd like assembly to be done by a fab, I can usually accomodate that.
  
  
• Turnaround time can be wildly variable - it will depend on the fab's current workload. Sometimes it can be as short as 10 days, other times it could be 4-6 weeks. Usually, these factors are out of my control - some fabs will offer 'rush' orders (24hr turnaround) albeit at considerable cost.
  
  At the time of writing (November 2024), two weeks seems to be the typical turnaround time for 'regular' orders. If you want me to use an assembly services on your behalf, you need to factor that in as well.
  
  
• If your module is microcontroller based - it is up to you to provide appropriate firmware for testing, particularly if it is based on an ARM controller (think RP2040, STM32 etc.) as I don't have a whole lot of experience working with ARM stuff. For AVR-based projects (ATTiny etc.) I have various test harnesses that I use, but if you want to provide your own firmware for testing then feel free to do so.
   
• A 50% deposit will be payable prior to fabrication, with the remainder payable on completion. The deposit is non-refundable once fabrication begins as I have no way of recalling or cancelling a job which has started (PCB fabs are largely automated, so the staff probably can't do this anyway)

I am also able to do 're-runs' of discontinued modules providing I have the appropriate files for them. In most cases I do, but for anything pre-2020 you're probably out of luck.