It may make sense to charge by aperture, but it means in some organizations that you'd have to get a quote for each stencil you buy - increasing the time it takes to get your stencil in the door. I also wonder what the cost breakdown is for making a stencil - cost of materials, mounting it in the frames, vs the run time on the laser... Anyway, the original question - laser vs electroform - we pay about 2x for an electroformed stencil. We've only used a couple - where we have some strange parts and need to put more solder in a couple areas but not in adjacent areas. regards, - Graham -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Fred Cox Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 9:38 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Stencils Geert, Logic has little to do with the market conditions. I agree that it makes sense to price laser cutting by aperture count. However, the reality in the US is that we have to compete on a fixed price basis. So... yes, a 500 aperture count stencil will be the same price as a 5,000 aperture count stencil. Fred -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Geert Willems Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 8:12 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Stencils Laser cutting of a stencil is a process of which the duration depends on the number of apertures to be drilled (one after the other). Logically, the cost of producing a laser cut stencil increases with the number of apertures. This is not the case for an electroformed stencil. Do you really pay the same price for a 500 vs. a 5000 aperture lasercut stencil in the US? I notice al lot of different price differences being quoted between LC and EF. To give an idea from my experience, a 10000-15000 aperture laser cut stencil could cost as much as an electroformed stencil. A higher number of apertures would make the laser cut more expensive than the EF. Geert Willems IMEC, Belgium --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------