Hi,
I'm looking to make a PCB that pretty much has to include a flexible PCB section or connect to separate flexible PCBs. It's still in the R&D stage but I'm only expecting to sell ~50 of the product per year, so there's not a lot of economies of scale even once it hits the market. The section that's going to have surface mount components is only ~10mm x 25mm. The flexible section only needs to have a 2" bend radius.
Would it end poorly if I just ordered a flexible PCB with a 0.8mm rigid backing on the SMT area and removed the cover film from that entire area? It would save a bit of cash, but I'm worried it would end up breaking. The other options I see would be to put FPC connectors on a rigid board and connect separate FPC boards, or to just shill out the cash for a properly made rigid-flex PCB.