I always wanted to make some kind of heated metal paintbrush, but
never got around to it.
It must be heated to avoid the danger of lifting small traces if they
stick to a cold brush.
What does not work is to use a piece of copper sheet as a wiper,
because the surfaces aren't sufficiently flat and it won't make full
contact.
For small boards and one-offs, you can just tin them with a soldering
iron in much less time than this discussion took.
I don't think overheating is a problem if you compare it to reflow soldering.
ST
On Mon, Aug 1, 2016 at 6:11 PM, Harvey White
madyn@...[Homebrew_PCBs]
> However, I like the idea of wiping
> off the melted solder with a pad (or perhaps brass sponge).
>
> I'd be worried about the process overheating the board myself,
> especially if the boards do not have plated through holes (and mine
> won't).
>