PCB Material?

[Mycroft2152]

PCB material seems to come in 3 flavors, Brown (phenolic), Green (fiberglass) and White. Any idea what the white is made of, it's tradename and where it can be purchased?

I have some early Rev_Ed boards that were made from the white material, more recent boards are the standard green fiberglass.

Thanks,

Myc

 

[WHITEKNUCKLES]

This material appears identical to the 08M Proto Board.
I have found it most satisfactory, I use a bandsaw to cut and shape so I do not use epoxy.
I get mine from rapidonline but there is more detailed information at Mega under Economy.
Should you wish I would be happy to send you a small piece.

Dave

http://www.megauk.com/pcb_laminates.php

 

[Dippy]

Good link Knuckles. I think Mycroft is in USA so might take a while for a sample to get to him.

I have used it for prototyping and would say:
1) It is much easier to cut than standard FR4 and puts less strain on HSS cutters/blades.
2) It's much cheaper to make mistakes with.
3) Surface finish not to smooth as FR4 so v.small pads have a 'wobbly' edge.
4) Ditto for v.fine tracks which are more likely to etch badly. 'Normal' track sizes are OK.
5) Not so physically strong as FR4 and can, sometimes, distort slightly.

On the whole, for prototyping or making one-offs it perfectly OK. Great value for money (based on Rapid UK prices) . For v.fine stuff stick with FR4.

I've had stuff from Rapid/CPC/Mega so have had a reasonably large sample size to base my humble opinion on.

 

[Mycroft2152]

Thanks for the info.

It seems the FPC is not very common in th US, most of the laminate readily availble seems to be fiberglass cutoffs from the board houses.

And yes, I do live in the northeast US. This region is also called "New England" .

I am mostly interested because of its white color. I have spray painted the component side white before applying the component IDs, but that is an extra step.

I generally make relatively simple boards with thicker/normal width traces, so the texture should not be a problem.

I have contacted the US distributer for Megauk and am waiting for a response. Unfortunately, they do not seem to be a stocking distributer.