Homebrew PCBs

Yes, of course. And ... ?

The cheapest hot-air station I've seen is $150 for an import unit. This soldering tip cost me ... $0.00. :)

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Steve Maroney" <steve@...> wrote:
>
> 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!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>