Problem is once you get the hang of it you are just going to hate
mounting SMT caps and resistors because you can do a 40-80 pin IC
faster than a couple of SMT resistors or caps
Don't discount the 'toater oven' method of reflow where you can mount
and solder all your SMT devices in one shot .... One caveat though, I
haven't tried it on an unmasked board so I can't say how it works in
that situation
JR
--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Leon Heller" <leon.heller@...>
wrote:
>
> I've just made a PCB which uses a Mega8 AVR in the LQFP package. I
don't tin
> my boards, and usually solder the leads of that sort of chip one at
a time
> after fluxing the pads with a flux pen. This time I thought I'd try
> drag-soldering, although I wasn't sure how well it would work
without any
> solder mask. Instead of the flux pen I used Warton Future HF Rework
Jelly on
> each row of leads after tacking down two opposite corners of the
chip. With
> a Metcal hoof tip (larger than the mini-hoof I use for fine-pitch
devices) I
> drag-soldered each row, and only had one bridge. The Rework Jelly is
more
> active than the flux in the pen, and I got very neat joints - much
better
> than I can achieve by soldering the leads one at a time.
>
> Leon
> --
> Leon Heller, G1HSM
> Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
> leon.heller@...
> http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller
>