Stuff

Yeah, but after working with AmplifyFun, I'm kinda jumping ship from Tayda for UV printing due to the hassle of the white layer. At that point, doesn't matter what you use to do your art as long as it's decent. :D
I'll have to check them out as well, thanks!
 
Diving into SMD has brought many gadgets into play. Test/burn-in sockets for breadboarding, Hot-air stations, infrared rework ovens, solder paste and microscopes, etc. The newest addition is dull as dishwater, but exciting as ice cream......brb.......okay, so passives are passé' and a little dab with the syringe on each pad and pow (at least where 0803/0605 are used). ICs are a bit different. Drag soldering works well, but sometimes leaves a few bridges to be burned.

I bought a couple of stencils to give a try. I'm sure all of you know how stencils work, but I'll show you anyway because I already took the pictures, so pay attention!

One SOP-28 SS stencil courtesy of Proto-Advantage and one SOP-28 CH341a.

ebewHlc.jpg


Fit's fine...just fine.

pkdNhtr.jpg


Now you just align it over the pads...secure with a bit of kapton and you're ready to smear.

HzsFPOI.jpg


Next up....a break...then...swab the deck me hearties.
 
Diving into SMD has brought many gadgets into play. Test/burn-in sockets for breadboarding, Hot-air stations, infrared rework ovens, solder paste and microscopes, etc. The newest addition is dull as dishwater, but exciting as ice cream......brb.......okay, so passives are passé' and a little dab with the syringe on each pad and pow (at least where 0803/0605 are used). ICs are a bit different. Drag soldering works well, but sometimes leaves a few bridges to be burned.

I bought a couple of stencils to give a try. I'm sure all of you know how stencils work, but I'll show you anyway because I already took the pictures, so pay attention!

One SOP-28 SS stencil courtesy of Proto-Advantage and one SOP-28 CH341a.

ebewHlc.jpg


Fit's fine...just fine.

pkdNhtr.jpg


Now you just align it over the pads...secure with a bit of kapton and you're ready to smear.

HzsFPOI.jpg


Next up....a break...then...swab the deck me hearties.
That is a serious hack, man. Makes soldering way too easy. :p
 
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Got me curious though. I wonder if there's a way to convert an SMD chip to a through-hole...something that can be inserted into a socket. :D
 
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Got me curious though. I wonder if there's a way to convert an SMD chip to a through-hole...something that can be inserted into a socket. :D
Check out the “related products” under this stencil. Maybe those would work?

I emailed them to see which stencil would be the likely one for SMDing an FV-1 and he said:
“The PA0011-S is the correct adapter match. Please note, our stencils are designed for our adapters, so may not be a perfect match for your PCB”.
 
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FIg's Bench is getting messy today!

Back to the baking show...the Chip Quik solder paste applied and the stencil removed. The right side is a wee low, but no worries. The pads will draw the solder to them.

fT12r1A.jpg



The chip just needs to be positio.....oops...wrong chip!

zLI2O7Z.jpg


Hot dog! Looks great. No cleaning was done to the board.

Xvurpfk.jpg
 
Got me curious though. I wonder if there's a way to convert an SMD chip to a through-hole...something that can be inserted into a socket. :D


That's crazy talk!

You'd have to mate the SMD chip to a SMD-to-THD adapter, then you'd have to solder another THD-to-SMD adapter to the SMD pads on the PedalPCB circuitboard just so you can plug in the SMD IC to the circuitboard. Why not just solder the SMD IC to the SMD pads on the PedalPCB board directly?
 
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That's crazy talk!

You'd have to mate the SMD chip to a SMD-to-THD adapter, then you'd have to solder another THD-to-SMD adapter to the SMD pads on the PedalPCB circuitboard just so you can plug in the SMD IC to the circuitboard. Why not just solder the SMD IC to the SMD pads on the PedalPCB board directly?
You have to put the thing in the thing and then jiggle the other thing and that thing gets all messed up and....oh f#$% it! :p

I'm just thinking of those times when you're trying to find a THD component but can't find anything but the SMD equivalent. So, yeah, SMD to THD adaptor for the win. Works for SMD transistors...why not for something like 8-pin SMD chips?
 
Lat summer I went from using paint.net (yes I know, the shame) for the past couple years to Affinity and Illustrator. If I can do it, anyone can. Once you get past the initial learning curve its pretty easy. How far you decide to take it is up to you. With just minimal learning you can do the cookie cutter clip art graphics or learn more in depth controls and start making some really complex designs. The biggest thing I recommend is having templates set up for each enclosure size to cut down on repetitive task so you can spend more time on your designs. Like I said, if my dumbass can do it, you can too.

I still use Paint.NET, been too lazy to learn Affinity. lol.
 
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Diving into SMD has brought many gadgets into play. Test/burn-in sockets for breadboarding, Hot-air stations, infrared rework ovens, solder paste and microscopes, etc. The newest addition is dull as dishwater, but exciting as ice cream......brb.......okay, so passives are passé' and a little dab with the syringe on each pad and pow (at least where 0803/0605 are used). ICs are a bit different. Drag soldering works well, but sometimes leaves a few bridges to be burned.

I bought a couple of stencils to give a try. I'm sure all of you know how stencils work, but I'll show you anyway because I already took the pictures, so pay attention!

One SOP-28 SS stencil courtesy of Proto-Advantage and one SOP-28 CH341a.

ebewHlc.jpg


Fit's fine...just fine.

pkdNhtr.jpg


Now you just align it over the pads...secure with a bit of kapton and you're ready to smear.

HzsFPOI.jpg


Next up....a break...then...swab the deck me hearties.
might not be a relevant question but can you use these stencil with conventional iron/solder or is it ment to be used with solder paste/oven?
 
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