Maybe I missed the fv1 bit. Was just curious if anyone used stencils. Only done a handful of smd parts but the solder wants to go where it's supposed to go in my experience. The key seems to be using the right amount of paste...
I've never used a stencil -- I've only seen videos of stencils being used. In every instance, the builder used the stencil, placed the components and then used a hot plate to do the weld. I've never seen anybody use a stencil with hot air, but I suppose you could. @JTEX showed me a video of him doing SMD with an iron, but he clearly has done it a few times, and as easy as he makes it look, I doubt that it's as easy as he makes it look. Maybe one day I'll have the confidence to try that, but not yet.
Gonna eyeball it.
There are "SMD practice kits" on AliExpress for a couple bones if you want some no risk practice
I just hand solder them using .020 or .015 solder and a 1 mm elliptical tip. No paste, usually no extra flux, no problem. I've done hundreds this way, with a few failures but not all that many.
I've been soldering and desoldering SMD parts on and off since circa 1995, up to 100-pin chips (not BGA), and I've never used a stencil. All hand soldering.
I hate when that happens! Especially when it's the the last part of a given value I have on hand.
I just ordered some .015 solder and an SMD solder practice board. I'm going to try it with an iron next. The paste works fine, but I found it hard to get it to stick to the pad without squirting too much on there.
I had the same problem doing jfets. Doing one pad at a time it’s almost impossible to dispense a small enough amount out of the syringe. I think my best looking results were squirting out a little pile, then dabbing it on with a clipped resistor lead.
Yeah, that's kind of how I ended up doing it in the end. The paste would adhere better to the syringe than it did to the pad, so I squirted out a little pile and used the tip of my tweezers to smear a little on the pad.
Makes me wonder if that is why folks use the stencils and then squeegee the paste through the stencil holes onto the board pads
I'm sure that's a big part of it, but I also think if you're populating a whole board with SMD parts and using a hot plate or an oven, it's just easier to assemble everything all at once if you can spread the paste and then just stick your parts down. If I ever do an SMD PCB, you can bet I'll spend a little extra to get the stencil.
I’ve never seen a real smd stencil, but I wonder if it would be worth xacto-knifing a little three hole stencil out of card stock for doing those jfets one at a time.
That's what I'm talking about... Very nicely done. Eventually I hope to get there.
I'm gonna try that with a piece of clear mylar.
I don't know -- looks pretty good. And yes, I've seen hackers take a clothes iron and turn it into a hot plate (the thought has definitely crossed my mind).
