Cutting less than 1 picofarad caps

[picofarad]

Thanks for the replies- I thought I'd been clear, but I see I was mistaken.

We have to make our own caps because the commerical ones won't work. We need that 1 per cent tolerance and some of the other things that we can only get with single layer sunstrate. We make and sell custom filters for things like cell phone tower gear. We don't have a standard line of products; everything is to the customers specs. So the customer for this particular filter change the high end spec and now I'm having trouble with the .88 picofarad cap I have to make for it. We do use a dremel in the tuning lab, of course. There is a company that sells custom caps but the price is outragous, so we make our own.

Oh, and I'm not a troll.

[jim]

Thanks for the replies- I thought I'd been clear, but I see I was mistaken.

We have to make our own caps because the commerical ones won't work. We need that 1 per cent tolerance and some of the other things that we can only get with single layer sunstrate. We make and sell custom filters for things like cell phone tower gear. We don't have a standard line of products; everything is to the customers specs. So the customer for this particular filter change the high end spec and now I'm having trouble with the .88 picofarad cap I have to make for it. We do use a dremel in the tuning lab, of course. There is a company that sells custom caps but the price is outragous, so we make our own.

Oh, and I'm not a troll.

So you're saving money on buying expensive custom-made caps by using your own expertise and skill to make your own, and save money.

But that's failed, so you're trying a computer-based forum for advice on how to do it?

Personally, I think your firm should be paying a consultant to come and figure it out if you can't sort it out yourselves.

[peterb]

Hi picofarad - welcome to Hexus, we are generally a friendly place (honestly!).

TBH your original post wasn't immediately clear - Hexus is not really a forum to discuss manufacturing or manufacturing processes - the construction level here is taking taking ready built units and assembling them into functioning computers - rarely does a soldering iron get put to use (except perhaps in the custom build section.

So if you are a production engineer who builds computers as a hobby, this is the place for you - but if you are a production engineer looking at production techniques, it probably isn't!

(I understand, but I haven't a clue how you would improve the production process to get a repeatable component within the tolerances you specify)

[nheather]

It sounds like the capacitor is needed for small batches of bespoke products (filters).

I assume you have tried just buying a load of the most reasonably priced precision capacitors, measuring them on a bridge or meter and hand selecting.

If you only need a small number it may be easier and more cost effective than making your own.

Are these normal capacitors or SMCs.

Cheers,

Nigel

[watercooled]

Don't know if they will be any help (they are occasionally very sarcastic/patronising but mostly helpful) but you could try allexperts.com - it's basically a place where you can email them questions and get a reply for free, don't know if there's anyone with expertise in this but it's worth a look.