Equipment

The machines that actually build your board

A list of machine models proves very little on its own. What decides the quality of your build is which stage each machine sits in — because a defect is cheap to catch at some stages and expensive at others.

So this page runs in the same order your board does: bare-board fabrication first, then placement and soldering, then inspection. Every photograph is from our own lines in Shenzhen.

Bare boardExposure · plating · V-scoring
AssemblySMT · DIP · hand soldering
InspectionAOI · electrical test
WhereShenzhen, Guangdong

Where the board itself is made

Fabrication happens before any component is involved, and a mistake made here cannot be fixed later in the process.

CCD exposure machine on Hongrong's bare-board line, with an operator in a cleanroom suit — **CCD exposure**Aligns the circuit pattern and exposes it onto the resist. Every trace width on your finished board is set at this step.

Panels racked vertically along the copper plating line at Hongrong — **Plating line**Panels are racked vertically and plated, so copper goes into the drilled holes as well as onto the surface. That is what connects the layers.

V-score machine under its V-CUT line sign at Hongrong — **V-scoring**Cuts the V-groove along the panel edges, so finished boards snap apart cleanly instead of being broken out by hand.

Where the components go on

Printing, placement and soldering — most of what a buyer worries about lives in these six machines.

GKG G9 solder paste printer on the SMT line at Hongrong — **GKG G9 solder paste printer**Prints paste through the stencil onto the pads. Paste volume is exactly what the 3D SPI checks a moment later.

GKG G5 solder paste printer on the SMT line at Hongrong — **GKG G5 solder paste printer**Stencil alignment is the whole job here: the paste has to land on the pads and nowhere else.

Inside a GKG solder paste printer, showing the stencil and squeegee assembly — **Inside a paste printer**The stencil and squeegee from working height. The gap between stencil and board is what sets the paste volume.

Pick-and-place machine with tape feeders loaded from reels at Hongrong — **Pick-and-place**Tape feeders at the back of the placement machine, loaded from reels. When a part is too fine to place by hand, this is what places it.

Multi-zone reflow oven on the SMT line at Hongrong — **Reflow oven**A multi-zone hot-air oven. Each zone is a temperature your paste profile has to pass through, in order.

Through-hole DIP assembly line with operators placing components at Hongrong — **DIP line**Through-hole assembly still runs by hand on this line — parts placed, then wave-soldered.

Where a defect is caught

Inspection is the stage that decides whether a problem reaches you or stops here.

Operator reviewing board images at an automated optical inspection station at Hongrong — **Automated optical inspection**Compares every joint against the programmed standard. It catches the placement error a person would have to be staring at the right pad to notice.

Operator running electrical test on a finished PCB at Hongrong — **Electrical test**Checks the finished board electrically — opens, shorts and values — before it can be packed.

Why there is no machine count on this page

How many printers, ovens and inspection stations we run — and the process limits they add up to — are on the capabilities page. They are kept in one place on purpose: the same number written on two pages eventually reads differently on two pages, and then neither is worth trusting.

Machine counts and process limits →

What these machines produce

The three sections above are the machines. These are boards that have been through them. Like every other photograph on this page they are our own boards, lit on our own bench — not a stock image and not a render.

A board with four black connectors along one edge, an RJ45 socket, a USB socket and a large blue multi-pin connector — **Interface board**Four connectors, an RJ45 socket and a multi-pin connector on one board.

A camera board with a gold-plated antenna area, four ribbon-cable strips and small surface-mount parts — **Camera board**A gold-plated antenna area and ribbon-cable footprints on a small board.

A board with two large square ICs, brown ribbon-cable connectors, a card socket and fine-pitch parts — **Large ICs and connectors**Two large square ICs, ribbon-cable connectors and a card socket.

Common questions

Why is there no machine count on this page?

Because a count belongs in one place. Machine numbers and the process limits they add up to are on the capabilities page. The same number written on two pages eventually reads differently on two pages, and then neither is worth trusting.

Which stage is the most expensive to get wrong?

Fabrication. A mistake made at exposure or plating cannot be fixed later in the process, because every trace width on the finished board is set at that step. That is why this page runs in the order the board does rather than grouped by machine type.

Are the photographs stock images?

No. Every photograph on this page is from our own lines in Shenzhen, and the boards at the end are our own boards photographed on our own bench rather than renders or stock art.