Homebrew PCBs

At my experience in my workplace, the metcal irons worked great. The 
most used were a 3mm or so conical chisel tip, and a smaller version 
of it. I found the larger tip helped prevent me from burning the 
board because of the greater mass and surface area, made for great 
thermal recovery. With the larger tip i could easily solder 402 parts.
We had a Hakko Hot air gun, the main usage was for removal of smt 
parts, not insertion. however on occasion i would use it to preheat 
large parts with ground planes like power mosfets or the like. I've 
also used it to solder SOIC parts, though a bit harder. Pre-tin the 
pads, use some flux and hold the part in place while reflowing with 
the hot air gun. Often this required touchup later. As for a stereo 
microscope, it's a must for delicate work. certian SMT connectors and 
sockets you will need a microscope for. I've tried several different 
kinds, though the one i liked the most for ease of use was a 
stereoscope with a single viewing window. i don't remember the brand 
but it used a rotating mirror or something inside it. lol. The other 
i've used is the two eyepiece type. it did seem to have better 
optics, but keeping the right distance to the eyepiece was 
frustrating. in any rate, buy the brightest light halo you can 
afford. at high levels of magnification you will appreciate more 
light.
Hope this helps.
-Steph
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "pgdion1" <pgdion1@...> wrote:
>
> LOL- Sorry about that Stephan.  I agree, anything more than one or 2
> by hand is not practical this way. If it gets to that, I have the
> luxery of sending boards down to or rework group to be done. Only
> problem is a lot of times they come back and I still have to touch
> them up by hand - Arrrrrgh!
> 
> >
> > Shhhh, shhhh, don't say that!
> > I've been preparing them the last few weeks that we _need_ more 
SMD
> > tools, you can't go around saying things like "not necessary" ;-)
> > 
> > I know it can be done with the tools you mentioned (i have pretty 
much
> > the same list just other brands), but regularly we need like 5 to 
10
> > prototypes at once and it's more and more SMD parts every time, 
and
> > they get smaller too. That can easily be a day or more of 
soldering.
> > At least a pneumatic paste dispenser is a must, applying it by 
hand
> > with the syringe is hard work if you try doing it for a long 
time. And
> > the hot air gun is really not ideal for reflow either.
> > 
> > 
> > ST
> > 
> > On 8/21/07, pgdion1 <pgdion1@> wrote:
> > > I've been doing rework for years and although hot air is nice, 
it's
> > > not necessary for small builds and proto-types. I use a temp
> > > controlled Weller iron and I have an older Pace rework (de-
soldering)
> > > station that still comes in handy for SMD (sucks pretty much 
all the
> > > solder off the pads). Some solder wick is also handy to clean 
things
> > > up. A soldering tweezer tip (Like Talon) is also very useful. 
Brand of
> > > iron is pure personal preference. We have Met-Cals and Wellers 
at my
> > > work. Some guys swear by Met-Cal, I prefer Weller (as do some 
others)
> > > and hence it's what I have at home.A decent heat gun (Ungar, 
with the
> > > small nozzles) & flux is the only other items in my arsenal. For
> > > inspection I have a good magnifying glass and several Jewelers 
Loupes
> > > (5x, 10x, 20x). That with good lighting is all I need. A Micro-
scope
> > > would be a nice plus though.
> > >
> >
>