Homebrew PCBs

On Fri, 7 Jun 2013 17:01:26 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:

>
>I'm playing with some Schmartboard SMT-to-DIP converter board and started 
>wondering if anyone has tried making their own Schmartboard-like grooves 
>on their own boards.  Or is this a crutch I would better leave alone?

I think it's solder mask mostly, but I've managed to do reasonably
well by going out 1/8 of an inch or so from any SMT multilead part
before I go off in another direction (I should do the same for even
things that go under the chip).  Then using lots of flux,( and solder
wick to get rid of the inevitable bridge if it happens) I may even
solder two pins at a time.  I figured out that the same "push the
solder to the pin" will work even though you may not have grooves
milled in the board.

Harvey