Homebrew PCBs

I think there is something called a hot air soldering station. :)

 

From: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Andrew
Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011 10:22 AM
To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] SMD soldering tool - reinventing the wheel??

 

  

I needed to remove some SMD ICs from a board that had a design flaw. My
current reflow setup is not quite hot enough to make removing ICs an
easy task, and I didn't want to put a lot of heat into the ICs in any
case. So I machined a new tip for my soldering iron:

http://home.earthlink.net/~a_wake/SMD_soldering_iron_1.jpg

http://home.earthlink.net/~a_wake/SMD_soldering_iron_2.jpg

I sized it just to span across the body of the ICs, so that I could heat
all leads simultaneously. It worked like a charm -- hold it in place for
a few seconds, give a slight twist, and voila!

Question: have I just reinvented the wheel? Surely something like this
is readily and commercially available? I didn't bother to look for
anything like this, since I had a machine shop and a solid copper rod on
hand that I could turn into the tool in 30 minutes or so -- rather than
having to wait days for a catalog order to show up!





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