==== 2022 FALL UPDATES ====

  * The electroplater is back! See "[[pcb-training|Training]]" for details on how to get trained (hint: it's the same as the other ones, but a single 30 minute video).
  * The reflow oven is better! See "[[process_reflowoven|How to use to reflow oven]]" for details. No training required. 
  * The laser has updated materials:
    * "_THE HIVE_FR4-1.55mm_Cu-0.5oz_standard" - standard 0.5-oz copper on FR4, traces and pitches of a “reasonable” size. 
    * "_THE HIVE_FR4-1.55mm_Cu-0.5oz_finePitch" - 0.5-oz copper on FR4 with traces or pitches smaller than 5 mil. Seems to go down to 1 mil traces and 1 mil pitches reasonably reliably, though definitely YMMV.
    * "_THE HIVE_FR4-1.55mm_Cu-0.5oz_plated" - if you started with 0.5-oz FR4 substrate and then plated it.  
    * "_THE HIVE_FR4-1.55mm_Cu-1oz" - standard 1-oz copper on FR4  
    * "_THE HIVE_FR4-1.55mm_Cu-1oz_plated" - if you started with 1-oz   
  * We have a stencil process - see "[[process_stencils|Processing stencils]]" for how. We also provide standard polyamide, free of charge.
  * We've got a process for making a pseudo-soldermask with Kapton tape. It's not perfect, but it seems to do okay. See "[[process_kaptonmask|Kapton masking]]".
  * We've learned that [[pcb-help_pm_0.15mm-drills|there's a trick to working with super tiny (i.e. 0.15mm) drills in the ProtoMat]]. The ProtoMat also works most reliably with drills down to 0.4mm; if you want to use smaller, see [[pcb-help_pm#q_a|the plotter's Q&A]].