Homebrew PCBs

On Fri, 30 Nov 2007, Dave wrote:

>   Yeah, I guess you have a valid point. Never say never! I have already
> been looking at the SMD's ...

You may find SMD not too hard - my second ever SMD soldering job was a
0.5mm pitch SSOP. (The first was a couple of SOT-23 transistors and a
SOIC, neither hard).

I find 1206 and 0603 passives faster to solder than through-hole passives
- no wires to clip off afterwards. I've not tried anything smaller than
0603! It just takes a little practise, I don't have anything fancier than
a good soldering iron with a pointy tip bit, fine solder, solder wick and
a magnifying glass.

Sparkfun Electronics have a tutorial on SMD soldering, as well as various
reflowing techniques (using a cheap toaster oven or a cheap hot plate).

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/present.php?p=SMD-HowTo-1