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You don't need to have great soldering skills for surface mount components. The easiest way to solder surface mount is the "solder stencil + solder paste" metho

You don't need to have great soldering skills for surface mount components. The easiest way to solder surface mount is the "solder stencil + solder paste" method (for want of a better term). You create a solder stencil to match the pin layout, place it over the PCB pads, apply solder paste, place the component on top then melt the solder (if you'd be doing multiple batches it's easy enough to modify a toaster oven to do this). Solder stencils are also easy enough to create, especially if you have access to a laser cutter. Are there any hackerspaces near where you live?

cillian64 11y ago
What do you cut your stencils from? I've spent a lot of time mucking about with various plastics and never gotten particularly good results - 0.5mm pitch pads tend to start melting together into a mess. The good stuff is meant to be Mylar, AKA PET. I've bought plastic advertised as Mylar which has not been particularly good, and I suspect it may actually be PE rather than PET, as apparently the two are often confused.
- jwr 11y ago
  Just order them from OSHstencils. They aren't expensive.
- ZenoArrow 11y ago
  Depends on how much you want to spend. If you're on a tight budget, you could try this... http://www.popsci.com/article/diy/build-diy-soldering-stencil-out-soda-can http://www.popsci.com/article/diy/build-diy-soldering-stenci...
jdietrich 11y ago
Using an electric hotplate for reflow also works very well for prototypes. You just watch the board and judge the reflow point by eye. https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59 https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59 Cheap PET stencils are available from OSH Stencils and SMT Stencil. For small boards, it's not difficult to dispense solder paste by hand with a syringe. The application doesn't need to be precise if you're using a board with a solder mask - surface tension does the hard work for you. https://www.oshstencils.com/pricing.php https://www.oshstencils.com/pricing.php http://www.smtstencil.co.uk/ http://www.smtstencil.co.uk/

cillian64 11y ago

What do you cut your stencils from? I've spent a lot of time mucking about with various plastics and never gotten particularly good results - 0.5mm pitch pads tend to start melting together into a mess. The good stuff is meant to be Mylar, AKA PET. I've bought plastic advertised as Mylar which has not been particularly good, and I suspect it may actually be PE rather than PET, as apparently the two are often confused.

jwr 11y ago
Just order them from OSHstencils. They aren't expensive.
ZenoArrow 11y ago
Depends on how much you want to spend. If you're on a tight budget, you could try this... http://www.popsci.com/article/diy/build-diy-soldering-stencil-out-soda-can http://www.popsci.com/article/diy/build-diy-soldering-stenci...

jdietrich 11y ago

Using an electric hotplate for reflow also works very well for prototypes. You just watch the board and judge the reflow point by eye. https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59 https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59 Cheap PET stencils are available from OSH Stencils and SMT Stencil. For small boards, it's not difficult to dispense solder paste by hand with a syringe. The application doesn't need to be precise if you're using a board with a solder mask - surface tension does the hard work for you. https://www.oshstencils.com/pricing.php https://www.oshstencils.com/pricing.php http://www.smtstencil.co.uk/ http://www.smtstencil.co.uk/