SparkFun Forums

[smbaker]

Is it typical for boards to include the little tabs between them? I just got back three boards from OSH Park and all three had tabs similar to these:

tabs.jpg

The other board houses I've dealt with (primarily batchpcb, but also another company based in Canada whose name I forget) never had these little tabs. while it's not much work to trim them off, I'm wondering if it's customary.

[n1ist]

Tab routing is quite common, especially if the panel includes boards of different shapes or sizes. They use a router bit rather than v-scores to separate the boards. A row of drill holes, called mouse bites, make it easy to snap the boards apart. Just cut and file off the tabs.
/mike

[Ross Robotics]

Yep, I get 'em on mine everytime. Just file them down or...

[InactiveUser001]

It is common, however a manufacturer that does not remove them is IMO not doing a good job.

It's kinda sloppy leaving them on.

[boroko]

I suspect that they are left on because with OSH Park, you are dealing with a intermediary who groups the boards together and orders a panel at a time. It is also my guess that they get back the entire panel and snap them apart into the separate orders, and mail them.

If that is the case, I can appreciate the fact that I can get nice boards cheap because someone does the combining for us. Snapping off the little tabs is a small price to pay for that service.

I'm sure if we complain enough, they will put someone extra on just to snap the tabs off, but I personally dont care to pay for that. I just want professional boards at a cheap price. If I get to the quantities that I need foofoo, I'll reconsider ordering a more expensive service.

Bo

[Ross Robotics]

I suspect that they are left on because with OSH Park, you are dealing with a intermediary who groups the boards together and orders a panel at a time. It is also my guess that they get back the entire panel and snap them apart into the separate orders, and mail them.

That's exactly how OSH Park does it.

I'm sure if we complain enough, they will put someone extra on just to snap the tabs off, but I personally dont care to pay for that. I just want professional boards at a cheap price. If I get to the quantities that I need foofoo, I'll reconsider ordering a more expensive service.

Bo

I agree 100%

[qwertymodo]

I'm not sure how many people OSHPark has for dealing with PCB orders, or if it's just Laen, but it's definitely a small operation for hobbyists, by hobbyists, and heck if they aren't great quality, super cheap, and faster turnaround than just about anywhere else I've dealt with (unless I felt like paying out the ears for DHL shipping from a Chinese fab). Is it a bit rough, sure, but it doesn't effect the quality of the end product, and it takes 2 minutes or less to file them off for yourself, the alternative being somebody on the other end taking that 2 minutes times several hundred orders. OSHPark is a hobbyist middleman with a single purpose, to bring down the cost and complexity of PCB ordering so it's accessible for hobbyists looking for often incredibly small orders. I just placed an order for a batch of 10 boards measuring 0.4"x0.5" each. That's less that 2 square inches of board for my total order. No way any fab house in the world would ever consider an order that small, so for OSHPark to offer their panelization services and charge me a grand total of THREE DOLLARS with free shipping, with an average turnaround time of 2 weeks? Heck, I almost feel guilty for it. No way I'm going to complain about routing tabs.