[sdiy] SMD soldering video

[Adam Schabtach]

> What I don't get is why the solder is being applied directly 
> to the wick, and I wondered if you could apply solder to the 
> SMD's pins and then wick off the excess. Seems like it might 
> waste less solder, if nothing else.

As others have said, the wick is totally unnecessary. Here's a page with
video showing it done with a finer-pitch package and no wick:
http://www.bdmicro.com/smt/
There is some other useful info on that page as well if you're new to SMT
soldering.

A pre-tinned board with a solder mask is easier to work with, but the same
techniques work on hand-etched boards. You have to tin the corner pads to
tack the IC down but everything else is the same.

--Adam