This gift-guide is geared toward the maker in your life who wants to get to the core DIY electronics: PCB making. It’s like being the geneticist of the electronics engineering world. Or a heart surgeon. Or a brain surgeon. Or whatever comparison denotes really knowing your stuff and not being afraid to get your hands dirty! Here is a list of our favorite PCB making tools and supplies for this holiday season.
Available at Adafruit!
CadSoft EAGLE PCB Design Software V6:This a license for CadSoft EAGLE PCB Design Software V6, 1 User. We currently can provide licenses for HOBBYIST, STANDARD and PROFESSIONAL. Please choose the version you would like from the pull down list. Or click one of the links above.
All Adafruit products are designed with CadSoft EAGLE PCB Design Software, Ladyada has made hundreds of designs with EAGLE! We are pleased to now offer licenses to our community & customers for purchase! Read More
CadSoft EAGLE – Skill badge, iron-on patch: You are learning CadSoft EAGLE and designing PCBs! Adafruit offers a fun and exciting “badges” of achievement for electronics, science and engineering. We believe everyone should be able to be rewarded for learning a useful skill, a badge is just one of the many ways to show and share. Read More
Practical Electronics for Inventors, Third Edition: THE ELECTRONICS KNOW-HOW YOU NEED TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL INVENTOR
“If there is a successor to Make: Electronics, then I believe it would have to be Practical Electronics for Inventors….perfect for an electrical engineering student or maybe a high school student with a strong aptitude for electronics….I’ve been anxiously awaiting this update, and it was well worth the wait.”–GeekDad (Wired.com) Read More
Panavise Jr. – PV-201: The best mini-vise for working on smaller PCBs (2.875″ or less in one dimension)! The jaws are strong plastic that wont damage the PCB and doesn’t mind if you hit it with the soldering iron by accident. Made in the USA. Read More
Aluminum USB Microscope with Precision Stand: As electronics get smaller and smaller, you’ll need a hand examining PCBs and this little USB microscope is the perfect tool. Its smaller and lighter than a large optical microscope but packs quite a bit of power in its little body. There’s a high quality 640×480 camera sensor inside and an optical magnifier that can adjust from 20x (for basic PCB inspection) to 300x (for detailed inspection). Eight mini white LEDs are angled right onto whatever you’re examining so you get enough lighting to see, and are smoothly adjustable via a dial on the side. Read More
Bus Pirate – BPv3.6 – v3.6: Interfacing a new microchip can be a hassle. Breadboarding a circuit, writing code, hauling out the programmer, or maybe even prototyping a PCB. We never seem to get it right on the first try.
The ‘Bus Pirate’ is a universal bus interface that talks to most chips from a PC serial terminal, eliminating a ton of early prototyping effort when working with new or unknown chips. Many serial protocols are supported at 0-5.5volts, more can be added. Read More
SMT/SMD 0805 Resistor and Capacitor Book – 3725 pieces: Always have the right SMT components at your hand with this awesome 0805 Resistor and Capacitor book set! This book has nice translucent pages filled with cut tape SMT 0805 components, sorted, labeled and ready to go. This book has 63 5% resistor values, 3025 parts and 17 capacitor values, 700 parts. The nice thing is that you get a good distribution of the resistors, with more 1K and 10KΩ and fewer of the really high values. Read More
ESD-Safe PCB Cleaning Brush: Neat-freaks! Put down that toothbrush and pick up this nice ESD-safe cleaning brush! If you want to have a nice clean board (or maybe you’re doing some repair) you can use this stiff-bristled brush without worries. Some people like to drip a little rubbing alcohol on their PCBs after soldering and then scrubbing to remove rosin/flux. Finally, you have the right tool for the job. Read More
gEDA – Skill badge, iron-on patch: You are learning the open source electronic design tool, gEDA! Adafruit offers a fun and exciting “badges” of achievement for electronics, science and engineering. We believe everyone should be able to be rewarded for learning a useful skill, a badge is just one of the many ways to show and share. Read More
KiCad skill badge!: You’re learning to design electronics using the open-source KiCad EDA suite of tools! The KiCad EDA Suite project aims at creating a portable, cross-platform, Free/Libre/Open-Source EDA Suite. That is capable of schematic and printed circuit board design. The code is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL. Adafruit offers a fun and exciting “badges” of achievement for electronics, science and engineering. We believe everyone should be able to be rewarded for learning a useful skill, a badge is just one of the many ways to show and share. Read More
Available Elsewhere!
Designing Circuit Boards with EAGLE: Make High-Quality PCBs at Low Cost: This guide, by Matthew Scarpino, is the perfect companion to your CadSoft EAGLE software. Scarpino starts with the very basics of PCB design and progresses and eventually builds towards more elaborate and complex design. Read More.
10pcs Carbide PCB End Mill Endmill 0.2mm—Ideal for Model Engineering, Electronics and Jewelry Making, etc: This end mill set is a great stocking stuffer for the maker in your life who’s always hunched over the pcb mill, agonizing over the precision of his drilling! These work for plastic, soft media, wood, metal, and circuit boards alike. Read more.
Paterson Plastic Developing Trays – for 8×10″ Paper (Set of 3 One of Each Color): Developing trays and other dark room equipment are great accessories for DIY PCB making. This set of 3 trays from B&H comes with one in each color (red, gray, and white) making organization extra easy. Read More
SHIPPING DEADLINES
Here are your 2013 shipping deadlines for ordering from Adafruit. Please review our shipping section if you have specific questions on how and where we ship worldwide for this holiday season.
UPS ground (USA orders): Place orders by Friday 11am ET – December 13, 2013 – There is no guarantee that UPS Ground packages will arrive in time for Christmas.
UPS 3-day (USA orders): Place orders by Thursday 11am ET – December 19, 2013 – Arrive on 12/24/2013.
UPS 2-day (USA orders): Place orders by Friday 11am ET – December 20, 2013 – Arrive on 12/24/2013.
UPS overnight (USA orders): Place orders by Monday 11am ET – December 23, 2013 – Arrive on 12/24/2013.
UPS International: Place orders by Monday 11am ET – December 16, 2013. Can take up extra time due to worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/24/2013 or sooner.
Please note: We do not offer Saturday service for UPS.
Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013, Christmas, no UPS pickup or delivery service.
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014, New Year’s Day, no UPS pickup or delivery service.
United States Postal Service, First Class and Priority (USA orders): Place orders by Friday – December 13, 2013 – Arrive by 12/24/2012 or sooner. We cannot guarantee you will get your package by 12/24 using this shipping method.
USPS First class mail international (International orders): Place orders by Friday – November 22, 2013. Can take up to 30 days ore more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/24/2013 or sooner, but not a trackable service cannot be guaranteed to arrive by 12/24/13.
USPS Express mail international(International orders): Place orders by Friday – December 13, 2013. Can take up to 15 days or more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/24/2013 or sooner.
Gift Certificates are always available at any time.
When in doubt contact us!
