Fit-test board fabrication progress

In addition to checking that I have the mechanical dimensions correct on my replacement PCB for the Canon P170-DH calculator, the fit-test board serves another purpose. This is the first time I've ordered a board from JLCPCB, a large Chinese fabrication house based in Hong Kong. This will give me a chance to look at the quality of their work and get a feel for the process and timing of their system.

I submitted a Zip archive of Gerber and drill files Tuesday afternoon, US Eastern time. I received an email saying my order had entered production within two hours. JLCPCB doesn't provide photos of your board at each phase of fabrication like PCB-POOL does, but they do have a 12-step status report you can check. I haven't watched it closely enough to know whether the times displayed are HK or customer-local, but seeing the progress is reassuring enough.

Checking the overall order status I see my order of 5 boards (the minimum) is now awaiting pickup by DHL for the long trip half-way around the world. That is estimated to take 2 to 4 business days, so I should get them sometime this coming week,

My plan is to finish laying out the 4-layer final board while the fit-test board is enroute. Once the fit-test board arrives I'll fit it into the calculator shell and see if anything needs moving. Then I'll check the function of the conductive-pill keypad and the slide switch mechanisms. If everything fits and works as expected I hope to submit the final board for fabrication by early Sunday evening. Hong Kong is 13 hours ahead of US Eastern time, so 6pm EST Sunday is 7am Monday in Hong Kong. Fabrication of the 4-layer board is estimated as 4 to 5 days, so with shipping adding 4 days I'll likely have usable boards by Christmas.