What Type of PCB Pins are Right for Your Project?
Printed circuit board (PCB) pins are vital connectors in electronic design — they provide electrical and mechanical connections between components and boards. The type of PCB pin in an electronic device significantly affects its performance, reliability, and longevity.
Four main types of PCB pins dominate the market: machined, cold-headed, deep-drawn, and stamped. Each type offers specific advantages for different applications. Machined PCB pins, however, excel in performance across a wide range of demanding uses.
Types of PCB Pins and When to Use Them
Understanding the characteristics and applications of different PCB pin types is essential for selecting the right part for your project. Let's explore each type in detail:
Machined PCB Pins
Machined PCB pins are produced through precision turning, shaping a solid metal rod into the desired geometry. The process of machining pins gives great control over dimensions and features. As such, manufacturers can make pins with tight tolerances, versatile shapes, and seamless construction. The seamless construction prevents the solder from wicking into the pin during the soldering process, maintaining the integrity of the connection.
Mill-Max offers a wide range of machined pins in various materials — primarily brass along with phosphor bronze and tellurium copper. So, you can choose the best option for your specific application.
Machined pins excel in applications requiring high precision, reliability, and customization. They are ideal for:
- Aerospace systems like satellite communication equipment
- Medical devices such as implantable pacemakers
- Military-grade radar systems, and high-end consumer electronics like professional-grade cameras.
Machined pins perform consistently in challenging environments where failure is not an option, such as in deep-sea exploration equipment or high-altitude aircraft sensors.
Cold-Headed PCB Pins
Cold heading is a high-speed manufacturing process where a wire is fed into a machine that forms the pin shape through a series of dies and punches. This method is efficient for the large-scale production of simple pin designs.
Cold-headed pins are uniform and cost-effective in high-volume production but have limitations in geometric complexity and precision compared to machined pins. They are common in consumer electronics like smartphones and tablets, automotive applications such as engine control units, and industries requiring large quantities of standard pin designs for products like home appliances or office equipment.
Deep-Drawn PCB Pins
Deep drawing forms a sheet metal blank into a cylindrical shape using a series of dies. This process makes hollow pins with thin walls.
Deep-drawn pins have a decent strength-to-weight ratio. Plus, they can be cost-effective for certain designs. However, they have limitations in length and feature complexity. Manufacturers often use these pins where weight is a concern, such as in portable electronics like lightweight laptops or smartwatches, or in automotive components like fuel injection systems — where every gram matters.
Stamped PCB Pins
Stamping cuts and forms metal sheets into the desired pin shape using a die. This process is fast and economical for large-scale production of simple pin designs.
Stamped pins are typically the most cost-effective for high-volume production of basic designs but aren’t the most precise and durable pin type. They are common in consumer electronics like budget smartphones, household appliances such as microwave ovens or washing machines, and applications where cost is primary and performance requirements are less demanding, like in toys or basic remote controls.
Comparing PCB Pin Types
When selecting PCB pins for your project, it's important to understand how different types compare in key areas:
Precision and Tolerances
Machined pins offer the tightest tolerances among all pin types, maintaining precise dimensions consistently. This high-level precision improves connection reliability and performance — especially where exact fit and alignment are critical. For example, when pressing pins into multi-layer PCBs the press-fit must be secure and engage the barrel of the plated hole properly to ensure a dependable electrical connection.
While cold-headed and deep-drawn parts can achieve tight tolerances on certain features, machined pins maintain tight tolerances across all features and dimensions, providing precision that is difficult to match with other manufacturing methods.
Strength and Durability
Machined pins typically exhibit superior strength and durability compared to other types. Their solid construction and use of high-strength materials result in pins that resist deformation and maintain shape under stress or repeated use. This characteristic is important in applications subject to vibration or thermal cycling, such as automotive engine control modules or industrial automation equipment.
Cold-headed pins can offer good strength, particularly in axial loading scenarios. However, their simplicity limits the applications they may be used for. Machined pins offer strength and durability as well as the ability to make more complex shapes including parts with one or more holes.
Versatility in Design
A key advantage of machined pins is the wide range of achievable geometries and features. Manufacturers can easily incorporate complex shapes, varying diameters, and intricate details. This design flexibility allows for specialized pins tailored to specific application requirements, benefiting complex PCB designs where standard configurations may not suffice.
For example, in a miniaturized medical device, you might need a pin with multiple diameters, a custom tip shape, holes and countersinks, and precise grooves for retention — all features that Mill-Max can readily machine. This level of customization is challenging or impossible with other manufacturing methods, making machined pins the go-to choice for unique or specialized applications.
When to Choose Machined PCB Pins
Understanding when to opt for machined PCB pins can significantly impact your project's success:
High-Reliability Applications
Aerospace, defense, medical devices, and industrial controls often require components that perform without issues in extreme conditions. Machined PCB pins are preferred in these scenarios due to their precision, durability, and consistent performance. Their ability to maintain tight tolerances and resist deformation ensures reliable connections even in high-stress environments.
For example, in satellite systems, repairs are impossible post-launch. As such, the reliability of every component is critical. Similarly, in medical implants, where device failure could be life-threatening, the precision and durability of machined pins provide essential peace of mind.
Fine-Pitch and Miniaturization
As electronic devices shrink, demand for smaller, more precisely manufactured components increases. Machined pins support this trend by offering the intricacy and detail necessary for fine-pitch applications. The precision machining process allows for extremely small pins with complex features, providing advantages in tight spaces and dense layouts where every thousandth of an inch counts.
In the development of next-generation wearable technology or compact IoT devices, machined pins enable you to push the boundaries of miniaturization without compromising on performance or reliability.
Custom and Specialized Designs
For projects that need unique pin configurations or special features, machined pins have the most flexibility. The machining process allows for rapid prototyping and easy design modifications. This makes them the best choice for custom applications and low-volume production runs. This ability to create bespoke pin designs can significantly advantage innovative product development or specific engineering challenges.
Mill-Max specializes in creating custom-machined pins for prototyping and low-volume production. Our quick turnaround times and ability to produce small batches make us an excellent partner for new and specialized projects. Our engineering team is well-versed in designing the best pin for your project. We work with you one-on-one and take into account cost, performance, and utility.
Whether you're developing a new connector for a proprietary system or need a unique pin shape to solve a specific design problem, our machining capabilities can bring your ideas to life without the constraints of standard components.
Cost Considerations
Machined PCB pins offer significant advantages in terms of initial costs and production flexibility compared to other manufacturing methods. For custom designs, machined pins require minimal upfront investment and provide quick turnaround times, making them ideal for prototyping and low to medium volume production runs.
While stamped, drawn, and cold-headed pins can be cost-effective in very high volumes, they require substantial initial tooling investments that must be amortized over large production quantities. These high tooling costs can make these options less practical for many projects, especially those with uncertain production volumes or potential design changes.
Machined pins maintain excellent cost efficiency even at higher volumes, thanks to advanced manufacturing processes and material optimization. When factoring in the superior reliability, lower failure rates, and reduced need for replacements, machined pins often provide the best total cost of ownership across various production scales. This makes them a practical choice for both specialized applications and high-volume manufacturing where quality and consistency are paramount.
Optimize Your Designs with Mill-Max
Selecting the right PCB pin lays the foundation for a successful, profitable, and high-quality electronic design. While each pin type has its benefits, machined PCB pins have superior precision, strength, and design flexibility. This makes them the top choice for most high-performance and specialized applications. To take the next step in optimizing your PCB design with machined pins, visit Mill-Max's product page to explore our extensive product line of precision-machined interconnect components, or contact our team today. Our experts can guide you in selecting the perfect pin for your specific application, offering custom solutions when needed.