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Why are FR4 copper clad PCB boards so expensive?

1 Kg of Copper costs around 6$ assuming you bought on the commodities marke t (per ton) however a PCB which is a thin layer of copper and epoxy-fibergl ass sells for upwards of 16$ for a few measly sized boards - WHY? PCBs are just squished up - extremely squished up copper plates - what accounts for the high cost?

Is it that hobbyists are suckers or am I missing something?

[Err.. this could be construed as trolling because of the 'suckers' remark, so here's a little more explanation. I posted the very same question here but got no satisfactory reply - in fact they decided it was not an 'electro nic design' question:
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A new Haswell CPU costs 150-180USD; 6"x9"(15x20cm) -6pieces, single sided,

1.2mm thick boards are USD-25!

Here's the PCB link:

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Given that a goodish bit will get etched out and given that the layer of co pper is quite thin - why the high price? I'd like to point out that INTEL s hares have a P/E of 14-17 times and people call it over-priced. On the othe r hand people don't mind paying a mere 7 times the cost of the latest Intel processor for what is essentially a bulk commodity. WTH?? ]

I feel this is a valid question because:

  1. If discussing diode, wafer prices is electronics and engineering then so is the price of the humble PCB.
  2. It's very odd - everyone says PCB-boards are cheap.. but there's a very thin layer of copper on the board and free market being what it is.. where are the hidden costs.

Just because you don't know shouldn't imply that the question is therefore stupid or invalid..so please weigh in with something sensible to me :p

Reply to
vek.m1234
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I'm hoping someone who makes PCB blanks may be able to chip-in; or some guy working in manufacturing. Those

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are mostly design guys i think.. so I doubt they'd know, or are keen on knowing anything about manufacturing.

Reply to
vek.m1234

Except right at the beginning, I have never bought "new" circuit board. Too expensive.

So I have no idea if it's because the 'surplus" stuff isn't the same, or that buying in small quantities makes it expensive, or that as "scrap' it becomes cheap.

I bought some icky stuff at Etco in the early days, "surplus" but a sort of bakelite backing, shattered so easily, and the copper came off, but it was cheap. Then started buying at hamfest, and a different surplus place. ALways cheap there, though again I have no idea if it's the same board. It was certainly of varying quality, but always seemingly quite good (except that stuff I bought at Meshna's one summer while on family vacation, too thick fibreglass to e useful).

The surplus place often had odds and ends, clearly leftovers from some commercial run. FOr some purposes, even the board that had been drilled was fine, using as breadboard some holes didn't matter, unless the hole density was too much.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Black

What makes you think PCBs are expensive, I wouldn;t say they are cheap. Whe you say PCB blanks what do you mean, I assume you mean something like this.

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which I don't think is too expensive. If yuor'e talking about producing a PCB then the first cost goes on tools setup for a 1 off is expensive, but that goes for most thyings.

Reply to
whisky.dave

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I found this useful, though the questions still remain.

Reply to
vek.m1234

--- The only real question I can see is: "Why are you posting this crap?"

For example, if you were serious you'd have unit costs for various weights of copper foil, FR-4, adhesives, and processing all tabulated and compared with the finished price of the raw copperclad in order to justify your contention.

Do you?

Of course not, since all you really want to do is flap your gums and waste everyone's time with your mindless, off-topic drivel.

John Fields

Reply to
John Fields

Well 'expensive' in that sense is fairly subjective - and I'd rather not get drawn into an analysis on that. Yup, I'm referring to PCB-blanks (unpopulated). I had posted a link to the product I was referring to..

What I'm trying to understand is the manufacturing process.. how are they made.. I didn't know they used autoclaves so power would be a factor. Then the glue they use would have to be water-proof, non-hygroscopic, etc.

Reply to
vek.m1234 

--
If your claim is that copper-clad laminate is overly expensive, then 
an analysis to prove your point would be de rigueur.
Reply to
John Fields

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