Homebrew PCBs

Will have to try that idea with the Scotch Brite, my last boards I hand-tinned were annoyingly shiny!

I used just the largest chisel tip I had and it worked pretty well but it was slow going.

I thought about making a roller tinning machine but it would be expensive.

But while Googling about roller tinning machines I found this: (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=25097.0;wap2)


"A lot of commercial single sided stuff is roller tinned. That is, a metal roller spins in a pool of molten solder and the PCB is passed over the roller, copper side down after an application of liquid flux.

That's a little complicated for home use, but I came up with a similar method. I got a 1" brass pipe 6" long at the hardware store. I drilled a hole into it in the center, and threaded the hole for 1/4"-20. I threaded a 1/4"-20 threaded rod into the hole and jammed it in place with a nut. Then I added an insulating handle to the 1/4"-20 threaded rod.

I sanded the  opposide side of the brass pipe smooth, coated it with flux, then heated it with a propane torch flame inside the pipe until the pipe could be tinned with solder.

To tin a board, you affix the board to a heatproof surface, brush on liquid flux, then heat the brass pipe with a propane torch until you can load the tinned side up with solder. Once the solder flows, swipe the solder-ey side across the fluxxed copper - bango, swipe-tinned board. "


Anyone else tried something like this?


--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Eldon Brown  wrote:
>
> On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 8:03 PM, KeepIt SimpleStupid <
> keepitsimplestupid@...> wrote:
> 
> >
> > >I found that I could brush the board with flux. Then I built up a small
> >
> > >bump of solder on the ground plane. Using my soldering iron as a paint
> >
> > >brush, I dipped into the bump and then painted the copper. When done, I
> >
> > >scrubbed the board with alcohol. Worked great. I had no shorted paths.
> >
> > >
> 
> 
> I do the same, but I include a short section of Solder Wick under the tip
> of the iron, it acts like a brush, it tins and wicks at the same time.
> After clean-up I use Scotch Bright to remove the shine, because the
> un-buffed surface is very bright and distracting while mounting parts.
> 
> Regards,
> Eldon Brown
> 
> 73 - Eldon - WA0UWH - CN88xc - http://WA0UWH.blogspot.com/
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>