2026 Monkeymatic Palisade - KiCad OnShape PCBway ChatGPT

[xtian]

I've been a bit underemployed lately, so I decided to bite the bullet and learn KiCad. And with a lot of assisstance from ChatGPT, I made it past the finish line in only four days!

This is my custom TW Liverpool build, with LND150 MOSFET first gain stage, two 12AX7 and two EL84 for about 12 watts.

Quote from PCBway for a single chassis, 2mm 5052 aluminum, anodized black, white silkscreen, $105 before shipping. Five (minimum order) PCBs for $48. Will follow up when they arrive!

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[xtian]

Oh, damn. Then it gets way more expensive with tariff...

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[martin manning]

Yea, but look at the discount they gave you! I've has good results from PCBWay for boards; did not know they will do chassis.

[Guy77]

Excited to hear how this turns out!
Always wanted to learn Kicad myself just haven't found the time yet.

Cheers
Guy

[neskor]

try jlcpcb, maybe they are cheaper

[johnnyreece]

Woof! This is why I roll my own turret boards. I figured out how to get my little desktop CNC to do the holes, then I just gotta insert the turrets. In a clunky way, I can use it for faceplates, too. It's already paid for itself a couple times (although, I held out for a deal). Good luck with your purchase!

[Bobwith2Bs]

Keep us posted if you do go through with an order!

I have been diving back into KiCAD for work stuff and am about to send out a personal order for pedal PCBs that will be my first one since the tariff changes in the USA.

I know for work we got hit with a tariff fee that was right around $85 mark and we were told that was the minimum so I am hoping there is not a similar fee applied to ordering $20 worth of pedal PCBs. The work order was closer to $2000+ before the tariff.

[nuke]

Just out of curiosity, try your cad file for the chassis on send-cut-send and see what they quote for comparison. I'm real curious.

[xtian]

Just out of curiosity, try your cad file for the chassis on send-cut-send and see what they quote for comparison. I'm real curious.

Send-cut-send would not allow my bend radius of 2mm, so that stopped me from proceeding.

[xtian]

Populated my prototype PCB. Prototype chassis is on the way!

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[xtian]

Chassis arrived!

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[mhuss]

Looks nice. Is there a reason you brought out the axial cap leads to both sides instead of just placing the pads where the leads come out of the cap?

[martin manning]

Is there a reason you brought out the axial cap leads to both sides instead of just placing the pads where the leads come out of the cap?

I'm guessing so they can be replaced without lifting the board.

[xtian]

Looks nice. Is there a reason you brought out the axial cap leads to both sides instead of just placing the pads where the leads come out of the cap?

Exactly as Martin said, so one can easily replace any component from the top of the PCB.

[xtian]

All done, and all good!

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