How a PCB is made.
Every PCB you’ve ever designed, ordered, or used began as a plain sheet of copper-clad laminate. Few engineers ever get to see what happens after that. This series follows one PCB through that factory, machine by machine: what touches it, what dissolves it, what presses it at 180 °C, and how it comes out the other end tested, cut, and shrink-wrapped.
Anatomy of a Bare PCB
What’s actually inside those layers: copper, glass weave, resin and the stack-up that holds your signals.
COMING SOONCopper-Clad Laminate: How FR-4 Is Born
Glass fabric, epoxy resin and copper foil become the material everything else is built on.
COMING SOONFrom Gerber to Factory: CAM & Panelization
What a CAM engineer does to your files before a single machine starts.
COMING SOONPrinting the Invisible Circuit: Photoresist & LDI
How a laser draws your traces in light before any copper moves.
COMING SOONEtching
Chemistry that dissolves everything that isn’t your circuit — micrometres of copper on schedule.
COMING SOONDrilling: Spindles & Laser Microvias
200,000-RPM spindles and lasers that drill holes thinner than a hair.
COMING SOONMaking Holes Conductive
The electroless copper and electroplating line that turns bare holes into vias.
COMING SOONMultilayer Lamination
Prepreg, the hot press, and layer registration — one board that can’t come apart.
COMING SOONSolder Mask: Why Boards Are Green
The armor coat, how it’s applied, and what happens when you order purple.
COMING SOONSurface Finishes: HASL vs ENIG vs OSP
What protects your pads, and which finish your assembly process wants.
COMING SOONSilkscreen & Legend Printing
Reference designators, logos, and how they end up crisp (or smudged).
COMING SOONTesting & Shipping
Flying probe, AOI, V-scoring, routing and the box that lands on your bench.
COMING SOON