Soldering stuff. Was RE: AW: pcb's

[Aural Research Facilities]

>From: Dan Higdon <hdan at charybdis.com>
>
>I do this same thing (or have on the 1 board I have etched - a VCA).  It
>works great, BTW, and it's very fun and easy.  The only problem I
>had was getting the ICs to solder down correctly (you basically
>stand them on their little "legs", and try to get solder to hold them
>to their spots.  Maybe it would be easier to fold them flat (pushed
>outward) so that the IC body touches the board, and the pins
>can be soldered flat to the traces.  Any comments?
>
>I'll be using this technique for all of my home brew PCBs.
>
>Dan Higdon (hdan at charybdis.com)
>
>----------
>From: 	Matt Haines[SMTP:haines at apc.net]
>
>So don't drill holes! I use the Ric Miller Surface Mount Method (patent
>pending). Not only do you avoid drilling (I still drill off-board wire
>holes), but all your components are on the same side as your traces, making
>debugging easier. Oh BTW, this method is described in ElectroNotes too. :)

Heh.  :)  I like that mention, but Electronotes' founder Bernie Hutchins is
the originator of the idea.  Anyways though, Dan - soldering chips.  I do
bend about a 1/32 to 1/16 length ( couple of millimeters) out from each pin
of the chip.  For an 8 pin chip, one side of 4 pins can be done with a set
of pliers, very quickly.  For 14 and 16 pin chips, it's easier to do 4/3 or
4/4 pins at a time. That way, accuracy is gained.
I'm not sure if will still use this technic when I get a laser printer to
print my PCBs onto transparencies.  We shall see.  Drilling is extra time,
and not really needed.

Take care all,
Ric
                       Aural Research Facilities
        "Building the lowest cost modular synths, in the .... :) "
                           rmiller at pangea.ca
                     http://www.pangea.ca/~rmiller