alternative materials for circuit board?

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 9:59 am

hey fellas,

i'm looking for circuit board material and am wondering whether there are any readily available materials which are suitable for sombebody who is not particularly concerned with look and authenticity.

which properties make a material suitable for use as a circuit board? would plexiglass or a similar acrylic panel be suitable? any other suggestions?

thanks in advance.

kevin

Flames1950 · Post by **Flames1950** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 11:42 am

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Go down to raw materials (?) and click on plastics........

I'd hesitate to try acrylic in case it cracks when you stake the turrets in.....it doesn't respond well to pressure.

Post by **VelvetGeorge** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 2:48 pm

G10 is the best material I have found in terms of mechanically, electrically ect. The electrical grade fiberglass is great too.

You have to watch out for moisture with other, non-electrical rated materials.

george

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:17 pm

thanks for the responses, guys. the reason i ask is that i'm trying to source parts locally in order to avoid shipping costs, delays, border taxes, etc... garolite might be a stretch, but maybe electrical grade fibreglass...

thanks again.

BashCoder · Post by **BashCoder** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 10:25 pm

For the vintage look, I really like XX grade phenolic boards. You can get them mil-spec and UL-listed for electrical applications, and they look NOS to my eye.

Guitar Adjuster · Post by **Guitar Adjuster** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 10:27 pm

BashCoder wrote:For the vintage look, I really like XX grade phenolic boards. You can get them mil-spec and UL-listed for electrical applications, and they look NOS to my eye.

WHERE?

BashCoder · Post by **BashCoder** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 10:44 pm

Well, the link referenced above (McMaster-Carr) also sells phenolic as "Garolite" in the XX grade. You can get a small piece and experiment to see if you like it, or they sell a sample pack for about $10.

I don't know if George has tried the same stuff I got, but he has had bad luck with some phenolics, so I'm referencing his post here:

http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php ... t=phenolic

BashCoder · Post by **BashCoder** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 10:48 pm

By the way, I got my stuff from http://www.usplastic.com/ ($50 for a huge sheet).

dynaman · Post by **dynaman** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:34 am

I've a few different types of material that I use. I wish I knew what the hell they were. They were simply advertised as "phenolic" on Ebay. I also scored some stuff at a local gun and knife show, of all places. Seems that phenolic or garolite without the mesh makes for great knife handles.