The hot plate/skillet method works great and is the cheapest and easiest if you're just doing single-sided boards. Google search using hot plate skillet smd reflow as keywords and you'll find all kinds of info.
I use an old skillet that I had to buy a replacement for (to cook food; how boring) because the non-stick Teflon coating was shot. I found after measuring its temperature curve that all I had to do to come pretty close to the desired temperature profile on the upside was to place the board in the center of the skillet, turn the temp control to 450F, put the lid on to retain heat and speed up the heat rise rate, and turn it off the moment all of the solder had properly melted. The cool-down isn't as fast as desirable according to the ideal SMD soldering temperature profile, so I remove the board from the skillet as soon as all of the solder solidifies to minimize the duration of component exposure to heat.
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "acidblue" <sunblaster5@...> wrote:
>
> Looking for tutorials on toaster method of soldering smd parts.
> Any advice on soldering smd parts would be appreciated.
> I do not want to hand solder them!
> However using hot air to solder IC's looks fairly easy, was wondering though would that work for smaller parts like smd led's and caps?
> Wouldn't the air move the smaller parts?
>
> Whats a good hot air solder station, that won't break the bank?
> The toaster method sounds like the easiest, but would like to see or read a tutorial.
>