What it is made of.
A PCB coaster is a real printed circuit board, made on the same lines as professional electronics. There is no circuit on it, only a picture on the front and a pattern in gold on the back. Here is what each layer is and why we chose it.
Layer by layer.
Front to back, the board is three things bonded together.
Front
UV-cured silkscreen print
The picture is printed in several colours straight onto the board and cured under ultraviolet light. We draw each design in our studio and prepare the colour separations ourselves.
Core
FR4 glass-fibre laminate
Woven glass fibre bonded with epoxy resin and cured under heat and pressure. It is the substrate of most electronics, it does not warp, and it takes a hot cup without complaint. 100 mm across, 38 g.
Back and rim
ENIG gold over copper
The rim and the pattern on the reverse are the board's copper layer, plated with nickel and a thin coat of immersion gold (ENIG). It is the finish used where contacts must not corrode, so it keeps its colour.
Solid ash.
Our wood coaster is a disc of European ash, about 10 cm across and 10 mm thick, made for us by a small woodworking shop in Lower Silesia. It is finished with oil and wax and nothing else, so the grain stays open to the touch.
There is no print and no engraving. A hand-pressed gold-foil mark is in preparation.
Where it is made.
01 / Bielawa
Drawn in our studio
Every picture and every reverse pattern starts as a drawing in Bielawa, Lower Silesia, and leaves as production files for the board.
02 / Shenzhen and Lower Silesia
Made by specialists
The boards are fabricated, plated and printed by a specialist PCB maker in Shenzhen. The ash discs come from a woodworking shop near us.
03 / Bielawa
Checked and sent
Each piece comes back to the studio, where we check it, pack it and send it to you.