PewCB One is a desktop PCB prototyping system designed to accelerate hardware development by manufacturing PCBs at home or in the office in a few hours or less, instead of waiting days for a PCB to come back from the factory.
Unlike desktop fabrication methods that rely on chemical processing, the PewCB One is more akin to a tall, fully enclosed laser engraver housed with an integrated air filtration system. Users can perform the full process from double-sided PCB blanks to a complete PCBA at home.
PewCB One highlights:
- Laser
- Wavelength – 1064 nm
- Average optical power – 20 W
- Pulse duration – ~100 ns
- Spot diameter – 35 μm
- PCB Blanks
- Double-sided PCB blanks with vias and plated through-holes
- Made of copper-clad alumina and zirconia ceramics
- Dimensions – 23 x 23mm to 84 x 80 mm
- PCB traces – As low as 0.1mm; formed using laser ablation, a process that removes material from special double-sided PCB blanks
- Solder paste stencil – The system automatically laser-cuts a solder paste stencil with openings perfectly aligned to the component pads
- Repeatability – 30 µm
- Resolution – 2 µm
- Spacing – 0.1 mm; note: the machine has been tested with 0.025 mm traces with 0.04mm spacing
- Supports small SMD components – QFN packages with 0.35 mm pitch and 0201 passive components
- Host interface – USB Type-C port
- Power Supply
- Power Input – AC 110-230 V
- Consumption – 200 W
- Dimensions – 464 x 290 x 155 mm
- Weight – 11 kg
It’s a 5-step process:
- Design your PCB, export Gerbers, open them in the PewCB program for Windows or Linux (free, but I could not find a download link)
- Laser ablation on both sides of the PCB
- Stencil fabrication – Last step done using the machine
- Assembly & soldering – Apply solder paste, place the components, reflow on a hot plate, then brush with IPA to clean off residue.
- Prototype board testing
The video embedded below gives an idea of the whole process. The company claims making a prototype after the Gerber files are ready is a 30-minute job, but it might take a little longer in practise…
The PewCB One is scheduled to enter production on September 1, and early-bird orders are now available on the website for $5,000 including a 30% deposit. The kit includes a desktop PCB prototyping machine and 20 PCB blanks. Note that the website doesn’t list the company’s address and only offers a contact form. The LinkedIn page for PewCB points to an office in Limassol, Cyprus, while the privacy policy mentions Exostartup LLC, which appears to be registered in Voronezh, Russia. You’ll find more details and the early bird order on the PewCB website.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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