[sdiy] SMT in a toaster oven

[Eric Brombaugh]

On 02/26/2010 03:58 PM, mark verbos wrote:
>
> I don't want to use one as big as the
> transistors. There are 120 diodes on this board, so it would help (just
> cutting the leads is a PITA). What do you use?

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bourns/CD0603-S01575/?qs=FITO%2f%2fQgYDlmbwJLjhqThQ%3d%3d

I've only used this a couple times, but they're cheap and tiny.

> One wabsite I read suggested using a seringe to apply the paste to the
> board, no stencil. Could work in small enough quantity. For me, $100 was
> a small price to pay for the time savings. I can build 5 of these in a
> day instead of one in 5 days.

When reflowing I've had tough luck applying paste with a syringe. The 
aperture of the needle that came with the syringe is large enough that 
it's hard to control where the paste goes, and a smaller aperture clogs 
easily. I've ended up putting a blob on a piece of plastic and using a 
straight pin to apply it to the board. Not elegant.

For hand soldering I use 0.015" flux core solder. Very fine, just enough.

Eric