Learn to Surface Mount Solder with Sean Hodgins

October 22, 2017October 19, 2017 fustinieducation, microcontroller, Reflow, solder paste, soldering, surface mount, tutorialLeave a comment

Sean Hodgins has a great tutorial on surface mount soldering:

Learn to Surface Mount Solder Using an SMD Challenge PCB

I feel like surface mount soldering has a bad reputation. It can seem daunting to someone who has never tried it. Since a lot of my project involve using surface mount components, I thought it would be a good idea to make something to inspire people to try it out (without risking expensive components or their custom project).

Decide how you want to assemble your SMD Challenge Kit (re, the video) you can choose to use a soldering iron, or a reflow oven. They take about the same amount of time but using the soldering iron can be a little more challenging and doesn’t require a cheap toaster oven.

Parts:

Bill of Materials for PCB on FindChips.com
PCB Files on GitHub – or order them on my Tindie Store(soon) or get them by being a Patron.
Solder Paste (for reflow oven)
Solder for Hand Soldering
Flux for Fixing
CR2032 Battery

Tools:

Toaster over for Reflowing
Soldering Iron – Hakko FX888D is what I use.
ESD Safe Tweezers

Choose your own adventure

June 24, 2017June 24, 2017 fustiniDIY, hackaday.io, maker, Reflow, SMD, SMT, soldering, surface mountLeave a comment

Choose your own adventure!

To reflow into Nick Sayer’s trance, click below:

I can reflow! badge

To brave the depths of Kenneth Olsen’s madness, click below:

SMD Challenge Project

Apertus SMT workshop at Maker Faire Berlin

June 10, 2017June 10, 2017 fustiniberlin, education, germany, Maker Faire, SMD, SMT, surface mount, workshopLeave a comment

The Apertus° open source cinema team will be running a Surface Mount Technology (SMT) workshop at Maker Faire Berlin this weekend in their AXIOM booth #121:

SMT workshop is on at @MakerFaireBER booth 121 @oshpark pic.twitter.com/0QahRreKub

— apertus° (@ApertusOSCinema) June 10, 2017

Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Workshop

In the course of attending a lot of fairs and exhibitions, we’ve noticed that our cameras and components attract the attention of people from all walks of life. We’ve found that despite our reassurances, people discovering the world of Open Hardware tend to doubt their capabilities where soldering tiny components by hand is concerned.

https://www.apertus.org/smt-workshop

This is why we hold Surface Mount Technology workshops – so that with a little confidence, the right tools and some initial guidance from members of our team, anyone can have great fun learning to make their own PCBs. The workshops are very popular and we have visitors designing pendants and earrings with colour LEDs and blinking patterns – which always creates a buzzing atmosphere.

https://www.apertus.org/smt-workshop

apertus has shared the boards on OSH Park:

ART Base

ART Tear

ART Star

ART Diamond

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:

Hack Your Hot Air Station

May 29, 2017May 26, 2017 fustinihackaday, hot air, prototyping, SMT, soldering, surface mountLeave a comment

It used to be hot air soldering gear was exotic, but not anymore. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive choices. Many of these appear to be the same despite having different brand names and model numbers. One that is common and inexpensive is the 858D. These run about $50. [Gabse] has one and decided to…

via Hack Your Hot Air Station — Hackaday

Working with Surface Mount Components and BGAs

March 20, 2017March 10, 2017 fustiniDIY, prototyping, SMT, soldering, surface mountLeave a comment

Surface mount PCBs (Part 1) If you look at a circuit board today, you’ll see a beautiful array of surface mount chips and components, including very fine 0.5mm or even 0.4mm leaded devices and BGAs. Some of these ‘exotic’ devices can contain really advanced technology such as high speed ARM microprocessors, flash and high capacity […]

via Working with Surface Mount Components and BGAs — Intelligent Toasters

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

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…