The moment I learned about PCB rulers I had to have one. But no PCB ruler that I could find on the internet was quite what I wanted, so I made my own! I put quite a bit of time and effort into perfecting this ruler, and I think the end product is really nifty. So, it seemed like a shame not to share it. These rulers are rather expensive to manufacture in small batches, so I need your help! At minimum, I can sell the prototype batch that I already have manufactured, but I would really like to manufacture 1000 or more rulers.
I crammed every piece of information about the Raspberry PI and electronics that I could onto the ruler. My goal was to put every pin out, and formula that I use from time to time but I don’t quite remember in one easy place. It’s exactly the rite size to fit into a shirt pocket, and it’s very attractive. The finish is lead free ENIG (Electroless Nickle Immersion Gold.) The circuit board material is FR-4 with green solder mask.
I intend to ship the rewards more or less in the order that the pledges are received. If everything goes perfectly I’ll get the early bird special rewards out the door the day after the project ends, and the rest of the rulers will all go out a few weeks to a month later. If the campaign turns out to be wildly successful, it may take longer to get the rewards out the door, especially for international backers given that I will have to fill out a customs declaration form for each reward sent overseas. For simplicity, I plan to ship the rulers in an envelope with a postage stamp, so there won’t be any tracking. I plan to use a circuit board manufacturer that I have used many times in the past, and they have proven to be very consistent and reliable. They should be able to manufacture several thousand rulers in about a week’s time, and ship them to me via airmail without any problems.
You may get a ruler with a faint logo from the manufacturer of the raw FR-4 circuit board material. They are very faint and I don’t think they take away from the aesthetics of the ruler. There’s a chance you’ll get one of these logos on your ruler.
I see this project as being very low risk. The rulers consist of one part, made by one manufacturer that I’ve used on many occasions. Your ruler could get lost in the mail. If this happens I’ll make it rite, guaranteed. The biggest challenge that I foresee is shipping all of the rewards in a timely fashion in the event that the project is wildly successful. If this is the case You’ll still get your ruler, but possibly later than planned. That said, if I do end up with more orders than I can manage I anticipate utilizing a shipping service or hiring some help to fulfill the rewards.