I used to etch PCBs at home, and I still do when I need them fast and it’s easy enough to to etch on 1-layer copper clad. See my post about etching with vinegar!

But PCB making has become so cheap these days that it’s almost not worth bothering. I’ve used more expensive services and cheaper services as well. The more expensive ones tend to be higher quality when you have very fine detail. But for 95% of the cases, even with fine pitch SMD parts (0402 is the smallest I’ve ever used), hobby fabs like OSHPark, or SeedStudio are quite good. The chinese PCBs tend to be OK for most things but the finer SMD footprints you have the lower the quality gets. Continue reading →