Surprised not to see Lulu publishing on here. Whenever I need a North America hardcover print job, I refuse to use anyone but them -- a 300 page linen hardcover is $20, and gets cheaper as you make the components more and more modest. I print all my own custom notebooks that are laid out just like want this way.
If you're willing to share, I'd be interested to see your custom notebook design. I've recently been laying out a few custom productivity "things" - like a continuous calendar - and can always do with more ideas.
https://www.onlinemetals.com/ will let you order custom cut metal supplies. I ordered from them years ago. It was the only source I could find at the time for being able to get just a small quantity of sheet copper. Everyplace else was like "Sure, we will sell you scads of copper sheet for scads of money. Bulk orders only."
online metals is fine, but they aren't cheap, and shipping is a drag. certainly better than nothing.
if you start doing this a lot check local metal suppliers, metal recyclers, and craft shops. decent hardware stores often have a small selection with a large markup. there are 4-5 places within a mile of me where I can get copper sheet. for copper and aluminum sheet there are speciality distributors for roofing that you can get copper and aluminum sheet and roll from.
I did check local craft suppliers and hardware stores -- what I could get to, at least. I've lived without a car for a lot of years and I'm seriously medically handicapped. Perhaps there was a craft store in the sprawling city I lived in at that time which had what I needed, but not one I could readily find in walking distance and like a lot of American cities the bus system was pretty dysfunctional.
So after determining that there was nothing readily at hand nearby that I could readily identify, I turned to the internet. Whatever you think of their prices, Online Metals was willing to sell me the quantity I wanted for a few bucks, which fit my very limited budget. I could not afford to order bulk sheet copper and there were other reasons why it would have been a bad idea for me to do so.
A metal recycler would not have been acceptable. I wanted fresh, clean sheet copper. This was essentially an experiment, me testing how useful the antimicrobial properties of copper were to me, someone with a serious and incurable medical condition. Dirty/used copper would not have been acceptable for my experiment, which was medical in nature.
If anyone knows of another online source where you can order small quantities of copper and wants to chat up that they have better prices or better selection or something than onlinemetals.com, I am happy to hear recommendations. My condition is incurable and it's entirely possible I will wish to order more copper at some point in the future.
For some use cases, copper-foil adhesive tape can be bought relatively cheaply.
I've applied it to some frequently-wet surfaces to successfully prevent microbial growth that previously had to be sanitized on a regular basis.
The adhesive keeps keeps it watertight to the surface, but the stuff I got could also be peeled off without residue. Because it's copper, it does develop a patina and leach green copper oxide onto towels when wiped. Brass tape may be a less-corrosive alternative.
People also use it for EM shielding, eg around electric guitar pickups.
You might try McMaster-Carr, which will (surprisingly to many) have a better selection of sizes and sell down to single, small cut sheets. Their prices are likely to be slightly better on a per-kg basis, which when coupled with less kg waste, could be even more savings.
I’ve also bought copper sheet from Aliexpress. What I got was copper sheet of apparent good quality. (I am using it for RFI/EMI, not medical, application so my tolerance may be wider than yours, in which case, McM-C is a more trusted supplier than “a rando on AliExpress”.)
I only have experience with PCBWay. I'm not associated with them at all, but their service is amazing. I've ordered (in 50+ quantities) five different 3d printed parts. In my case I chose MJF (multijet fusion) as I wanted a semi-professional looking part and had already prototyped using my FDM printer (regular 3d printer) at home. The price is shockingly low (like a couple of dollars per part) and the shipping from China to the US is very fast.
I have also used their CNC milling to make a tool from steel. It was delivered exactly as specified including threaded holes.
It really blows my mind that they can provide these services so cheaply.
Edit: Forgot my favorite feature. Most of the time there is an automatic quote for the price. It gets reviewed by a human, but I've only ever see it go down, not up, after review. Other services really want a human to look things over first which turns me off as I don't want to wait several days to hear that it is too expensive.
Are the regions strictly where they're based or where they serve? I've used PCBWay and JLCPCB for projects and had the boardś mailed from China to the US. But can I take it for granted that I could do this with the rest of the suppliers?
FWIW both services provided excellent boards, even with an order of only 5 units.
Yes! I’ve used them dozens and dozens of times. Not the cheapest if you want quick turnaround, but I did use to cut down cost by walking over to their Oakland warehouse for pickup. Was a nice small operation, smelled like burnt acrylic from a block away though haha
CraftCloud aggregates a lot of 3d printers. As in, you upload your model once and select from a zillion available processes, materials, methods, locations, speeds, prices.
Shapeways and Sculpteo both missing from this page, both conforming to the instant on-line criteria.
Personal opinion:
I'd suggest making each category collapsible/expandable so that you don't have to scroll through all the countries to find the category that you're looking for.
I keep being shocked at how expensive PCBA is in the US. Even setting aside the low-volume prototyping stuff. I just priced out a board on macrofab, and without adding any parts (so no parts cost added) they're quoting me $10/board once I reach the max volume discount of 400 boards. Meanwhile JLCPCB has me down in the $4/board zone at 50 boards, and by 400 boards it's nearing $2/board (with a BOM around $1/board).
I knew US manufacturing was going to be more expensive, but every place i've priced it out has has me stunned at how cheap people like JLC and PCBway have been able to get things.
For the price US places charge, I could buy my own pick and place machine.
