Homebrew PCBs

Dylan Smith wrote:
> On Fri, 30 Nov 2007, Dave wrote:
>
>   
>>   Yeah, I guess you have a valid point. Never say never! I have already
>> been looking at the SMD's ...
>>     
>
> You may find SMD not too hard - my second ever SMD soldering job was a
> 0.5mm pitch SSOP. (The first was a couple of SOT-23 transistors and a
> SOIC, neither hard).
>
> I find 1206 and 0603 passives faster to solder than through-hole passives
> - no wires to clip off afterwards. I've not tried anything smaller than
> 0603! It just takes a little practise, I don't have anything fancier than
> a good soldering iron with a pointy tip bit, fine solder, solder wick and
> a magnifying glass.
>
> Sparkfun Electronics have a tutorial on SMD soldering, as well as various
> reflowing techniques (using a cheap toaster oven or a cheap hot plate).
>
> http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/present.php?p=SMD-HowTo-1
>
>   
I just bought a Hakko 936 to replace my Weller that I paid big bucks for 
years ago. The Weller was like new and rarely used but some expensive 
control board bit the dust and it quit working when it was out of 
warranty. The new Hakko 936 was less than the part to fix the Weller and 
the part was no longer available anyhow. Thanks for the link on SMD 
how-to. Forgive me if I have to google some of what you say as I am not 
familiar with SMD stuff...
Dave