Surface Mount Challenge

June 8, 2017June 16, 2017 fustiniSMD, SMT, soldering, surface mount2 Comments

From Ken Olsen of MakersBox on Hackaday.io:

An “Unfortunate” SMD Project

If you like happy, easy to build projects, this is not for you. This is only for people who like to grind their teeth and pull out hair.

Thanks to Ken for sending us the parts to try it out! http://www.makersbox.us/

MakersBox has shared project on OSH Park:

SMD Challenge Project

Be warned that trying to hand solder a 0201 package may be considered evidence of insanity and get you committed to bad places by your loved ones or arch nemesis.

Here’s a video of the board in operation:

DIY Vacuum Pickup Tool

January 25, 2017January 14, 2017 fustiniassembly, DIY, hackaday, prototyping, SMD, SMT, soldering, surface mountLeave a comment

We are always surprised how much useful hacking gear is in the typical craft store. You just have to think outside the box. Need a hot air gun? Think embossing tool. A soldering iron? Check the stained glass section. Magnification gear? Sewing department. We’ve figured out that people who deal with beads use lots of fine…

via [Dave’s] Not Just a Member of the Air Club for Tweezers — Hackaday

Surface-Mount Edge Connectors

January 22, 2017January 24, 2017 fustinikicad, prototyping, SMD, surface mountLeave a comment

FacelessTech designed this small board to act as a surface-mount edge connector:

SMD edge connectors

So you want to joint two boards together, You decide to use through hole female and male 2.54 pitch headers. Normally you would use through hole than ether have a 90 degree headers or just bend them over. For years this is how I did it, I would have to make sure I made sure the holes were just the right distance from the edge of the board.

The KiCad design files are available on GitHub:

facelessloser/smd_edge_connectors

reDOT: Tiny 5×7 LED matrix

December 19, 2016 fustinihackaday, LED, SMDLeave a comment

al1 created this remake of the old Texas Instruments TIL305 display with tiny surface mount LEDs:

reDOT

TIL311 had a alphanumerical brother the TIL305. This was a 5×7 LED matrix in the same form factor

https://hackaday.io/project/15102-redot

Here is a video of reDOT in action:

ALKR has shared the board on OSH Park:

reDOT

Turn cheap USB soldering irons in to tweezers

December 17, 2016December 19, 2016 fustinihackday, SMD, SMT, soldering, surface mountLeave a comment

Turn cheap USB soldering irons in to tweezers — Hackaday

This is 2016, and almost every hacker dabbles with SMD parts now, unlike back in the day. This means investing in at least some specialized tools and equipment to make the job easier. One handy tool is the SMD soldering tweezers – useful not only for manual soldering of parts, but also for de-soldering them…

SMD edge connectors

October 27, 2016October 26, 2016 fustiniFTDI, kicad, SMDLeave a comment

From the Facelesstech blog:

SMD edge connectors

Normally you would use through hole then either have a 90 degree headers or just bend them over. [..] I had a brain wave, why don’t I lie the header down flat on the board and solder it to a SMD pad

The design files are available on GitHub: