Title: Simple component size and silkscreen reference board
Post by: NsN on May 14, 2013, 03:31:21 pm
Post by: NsN on May 14, 2013, 03:31:21 pm
Hi,
since I kept checking old projects to figure out which silkscreens worked, and which didn't, I made myself a simple reference board.
I also included some common SMD component sizes, just to keep me from thinking 0402 was a viable default size.
I have a rather detailed description on my blog (http://http://www.justgeek.de/simple-silkscreen-reference-board/), but I think the general idea is easy enough to understand.
I'm not sure if linking to my blog is okay, or if this is considered spam.
Bye,
Philip
since I kept checking old projects to figure out which silkscreens worked, and which didn't, I made myself a simple reference board.
I also included some common SMD component sizes, just to keep me from thinking 0402 was a viable default size.
I have a rather detailed description on my blog (http://http://www.justgeek.de/simple-silkscreen-reference-board/), but I think the general idea is easy enough to understand.
I'm not sure if linking to my blog is okay, or if this is considered spam.
Bye,
Philip
Title: Re: Simple component size and silkscreen reference board
Post by: neslekkim on May 14, 2013, 03:57:57 pm
Post by: neslekkim on May 14, 2013, 03:57:57 pm
Ordered one on tindie, hope that your fundraiser reaches your goal then, thought it was kinda high.
Title: Re: Simple component size and silkscreen reference board
Post by: NsN on May 14, 2013, 04:10:39 pm
Post by: NsN on May 14, 2013, 04:10:39 pm
Thank you!
Yeah, I feel a bit weird about the price on tindie. I was torn between $1.50 and $2.50. I played around with the numbers for a few hours, and in the end I decided to err on the safe side. This is my first tindie project, and I'm not sure what to expect.
If figured, that there will be some boards that get lost in the mail and maybe some unexpected costs. I think that a bigger project would actually be easier as a first try, since a $1 safety margin isn't that noticeable on a $30 item.
If the fundraiser doesn't reach the goal, I will probably add some boards to a future order and put them up on tindie. It will just take a bit longer.
Yeah, I feel a bit weird about the price on tindie. I was torn between $1.50 and $2.50. I played around with the numbers for a few hours, and in the end I decided to err on the safe side. This is my first tindie project, and I'm not sure what to expect.
If figured, that there will be some boards that get lost in the mail and maybe some unexpected costs. I think that a bigger project would actually be easier as a first try, since a $1 safety margin isn't that noticeable on a $30 item.
If the fundraiser doesn't reach the goal, I will probably add some boards to a future order and put them up on tindie. It will just take a bit longer.
Title: Re: Simple component size and silkscreen reference board
Post by: neslekkim on May 14, 2013, 04:35:32 pm
Post by: neslekkim on May 14, 2013, 04:35:32 pm
The price is ok, I meant the fundraiser goal ;)
Title: Re: Simple component size and silkscreen reference board
Post by: matseng on May 21, 2013, 02:55:02 pm
Post by: matseng on May 21, 2013, 02:55:02 pm
They look kinda familar... :-) viewtopic.php?f=56&t=4750&p=45989&hilit=paper+clip#p45989 (http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=4750&p=45989&hilit=paper+clip#p45989)
Congratulations for a successful fundraiser at Tindie! It seems like you got well over 100 orders....
Congratulations for a successful fundraiser at Tindie! It seems like you got well over 100 orders....
Title: Re: Simple component size and silkscreen reference board
Post by: NsN on May 22, 2013, 10:24:53 pm
Post by: NsN on May 22, 2013, 10:24:53 pm
It's funny how many similar cards I've found after I started the fundraiser. I guess this shows how useful such a card is :)
The fundraiser went great, after it went up on the DP blog, It really took off. Now I have to set up a quick way to print out all those address labels ;)
The fundraiser went great, after it went up on the DP blog, It really took off. Now I have to set up a quick way to print out all those address labels ;)
Title: Re: Simple component size and silkscreen reference board
Post by: NsN on September 19, 2013, 11:13:04 pm
Post by: NsN on September 19, 2013, 11:13:04 pm
After the reference board went over well, I also made a set of smaller boards to show the different soldermask colors:
The boards all have a very similar front with exposed pads, traces and silkscreen both on copper and off copper.
The back is different for each board and I tried to copy most of the examples from the card over. The boards are also in different thicknesses and have both HASL and ENIG finishes.
What I found most interesting was how opaque the white and black soldermask were compared to how transparent yellow came out. From a prototyping / debugging point of view I would use yellow, red or green as soldermask. With those colors, you can easily follow the traces and see potential problems.
On the other hand white and black are opaque enough that you could use them directly as a front panel.
Blue and purple are somewhere in the middle, not quite as easy to follow, but still very doable with good lighting. Obviously there are also lots of other color combinations, I focused on the ones I could easily get from common prototype houses.
Again you can find some more detailed info and the source files on my blog (http://http://www.justgeek.de/pcb-sample-set/).
The boards all have a very similar front with exposed pads, traces and silkscreen both on copper and off copper.
The back is different for each board and I tried to copy most of the examples from the card over. The boards are also in different thicknesses and have both HASL and ENIG finishes.
What I found most interesting was how opaque the white and black soldermask were compared to how transparent yellow came out. From a prototyping / debugging point of view I would use yellow, red or green as soldermask. With those colors, you can easily follow the traces and see potential problems.
On the other hand white and black are opaque enough that you could use them directly as a front panel.
Blue and purple are somewhere in the middle, not quite as easy to follow, but still very doable with good lighting. Obviously there are also lots of other color combinations, I focused on the ones I could easily get from common prototype houses.
Again you can find some more detailed info and the source files on my blog (http://http://www.justgeek.de/pcb-sample-set/).