i personally use a razor blade in a pair of vice grips. not sure how big your board is but for the small boards i have done this comes out excellent (could see doing it w/ up to 4"x6" boards no problem). i may have to clean the paste off the razor and put it back on the stencil, but that is about it.
bob
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Philip Pemberton <ygroups@...> wrote:
>
> Hi guys,
>
> I'm having a play with solder paste and a homebrew reflow oven --
> basically an Argos "Cookworks Mini Oven", 1640W quad-element (two top,
> two bottom), onto which I've grafted a Labfacility K-type thermocouple
> socket, a West Controls/CAL eCAL E6C PID controller, and a Crydom
> EZ480D18 solid-state relay.
>
> Problem is, the squeegee I'm using isn't quite working...
>
> What's happening is that the paste seems to go into the apertures in the
> stencil for the first inch or so, then all the paste starts making its
> way up the squeegee, towards the handle. The squeegee is a hard plastic
> handle, moulded onto a ~2mm thick piece of metal (stainless steel?).
>
> Questions:
> 1) Am I using the right tool?
> 2) If not, what do I need? I've seen the squeegees Beta Layout
> (PCB-POOL) are selling for a couple of Euros, but I'm not keen on the
> idea of spending EUR5 on a squeegee, and EUR20 in postage.
> 3) If I am using the right tool, what am I doing wrong? I left the
> paste out of the fridge overnight to warm up, so it shouldn't have been
> excessively cold...
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions? I've seen the Sparkfun tutorials, and
> the PCB-POOL video, but haven't found any useful info on debugging the
> process...
>
> --
> Phil.
> ygroups@...
> http://www.philpem.me.uk/
>