Re: Small batch SMT tools?

Aug 24, 2024 Last reply: 1 year ago 10 Replies


I've a colleague who has offered to "build" the first batch of


> boards for my alpha site -- about 1000 pieces (though small;
> about 3 sq in each; 25 different designs).
>
> I feel like I'd be pushing my luck to ask him to also build the
> prototypes -- about 50 total pieces.
>
> I have an opportunity to rescue some kit, this weekend (PnP,
> stenciler, hotplate, another Leister, etc.) if I opt to do the
> prototypes myself.
>
> But, I suspect this will be more work than it is worth. (I've never
> assembled boards this small and densely packed). And, is more "stuff"
> to store, here.
>
> [OTOH, if I have to do any rework...]
>
> Perhaps I should "ask nicely" and promise him some baked goods or
> ice cream as an incentive? Pizzas for the folks on the 'line?
>
>

Board stuffing has got so cheap that we don’t even stuff protos.



JLCPCB is the bomb, apart from the occasional rotated QFN.



Cheers



Phil Hobbs


It's crazy that, starting from the earliest days of ICs, you can make a mistake by rotating a part. You couldn't plug in a tube wrong.

But you could plug the wrong tube in :)

>

Oh, don't get technical. I hate it when people get technical.

And they used the tube convention of counting pins counter-clockwise, which actually doesn't make much sense for ICs.

They’re clockwise looking at the bottom, proving once again that dead bug is the One True Prototyping Style. ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Cruelty to invertibrates. You should be ashamed.

If you solder a surfmount part to an adapter, do you mount all that upside down?

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I should try that. ;)

I use SOT and SOIC packages upside down, but they’re fiddlier than DIPs and TO92s.

Fortunately I invested in a lot of those a few years ago, when the Great TO92 Purge started. I should be good for the next century or so. ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

I suppose your Mo bakes upside-down cake.

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Fortunately not. ;)

Neither of us are real cake people— give me a nice peach & ginger or strawberry rhubarb pie anytime. Soft gingerbread with applesauce and custard is another fave. (Real custard with real vanilla!)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

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