Polyimide Stencils

Polyimide Stencils are low cost SMT Stencils made out of polymers, mainly used by students and hobbyists to assemble prototype printed circuit boards. We use state-of-the-art UV laser technology to produce smooth aperture walls resulting in great print performance. Our laser technology can create your custom stencil with a thickness of 0.003" or 0.004", offering the best precision cut you can find.

Price: $50.00 for the first 25 square inches, $1.85 for each additional square inch.

UV Laser Cut Quality CO2 Laser Cut Quality
The UV laser has a narrow KERS. It removes micron by micron for smooth aperture walls.	The KERS of the CO2 laser is 10 times greater. It cuts through the material. Therefore the aperture walls are not as smooth

Kapton or Mylar

Kapton is a polyimide film produced from the condensation of pyromellitic dianhydride and oxydiphenylamine, which not only offers higher tensile strength and reliability but has the ability to keep its great physical, electrical, and mechanical properties over a wide temperature range.Mylar is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate allowing great prototype stencils because of its high tensile strength.
The main difference between Kapton and Mylar is that Kapton can remain stable in a wide range of temperatures, from -273 to +400 °C (- 459 to + 752 °F) while Mylar's range is about -70 to +180 ºC (-94 to + 392 ºF), this allows Kapton to be one of the most used materials in flexible printed circuits.

Polyimide Stencils VS Prototype SMT Stencils

	Polyimide Stencils	Prototype Stencils
Material	Mylar or Kapton	Stainless Steel
Price	$50	$125 only the foil. $145 with Stencil Kit
Lead-Time	48-Hour Turn	24-Hour Turn
Durability	Short Life (approximately up to 100 applications)	Long Life
Precision	Less accurate aperture registration	More accurate aperture registration
Users	Students and Hobbyists	Students, Hobbyists and PCB Professionals