Author Topic: homemade stencil printing frame  (Read 1843 times)

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Offline jmelsonTopic starter

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homemade stencil printing frame
« on: June 11, 2018, 03:35:33 am »
I have mentioned in the past my low-budget solder stencil setup, I finally got around to taking some pictures.
The base has a 1" grid of 10-32 tapped holes.  The frame edges have a .062" step machined into them, to hold the board flush with the top, and securely hold the edge of the board.  There are slots at 2" intervals for screws to hold the frame pieces as needed to hold the specific board, as in the 2nd picture.
I have found that masking tape makes a great living hinge for the stencil.  I apply the masking tape to the edge of the stencil, then align the apertures to the board's pads, and then press the masking tape to the frame, as seen in the 3rd photo.

Jon
 

Offline Dubbie

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Re: homemade stencil printing frame
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2018, 04:59:19 am »
Ah the luxury of monster parts!
 

Online Berni

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Re: homemade stencil printing frame
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2018, 05:08:02 am »
Quite the solid board support there.

Do you recycle those brass stencils by melting them down?
 

Offline jmelsonTopic starter

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Re: homemade stencil printing frame
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2018, 03:04:08 pm »
Quite the solid board support there.

Do you recycle those brass stencils by melting them down?
No, I generally keep them for some time, as I build the same boards in modest batches.  Eventually the stencils get superseded by new designs.  Then, I can turn them in for scrap.

Jon
 

Offline jmelsonTopic starter

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Re: homemade stencil printing frame
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2018, 03:05:23 pm »
Ah the luxury of monster parts!
Well, I go down to 0603 on some boards, and routinely do 0.5mm pitch flat packs.  I have done 0.4mm pitch, but that is way out of the league for my P&P machine.

Jon
 

Offline ar__systems

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Re: homemade stencil printing frame
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2018, 04:11:34 pm »
That looks.... scary.  8)

My stencil printer had similar design. But messing with screws is annoying, and routed and especially scored boards are not exactly same size. So if your board supports bolted to the bottom, you can't do per board adjustments easily. I replaced it with a simpler design. I 3d printed similarly profiled brackets with magnets in the bottom, and place them on a steel plate. No messing with screws, and I can always move the supports slightly if the board does not fit or is loose.

Also, I find for larger boards you need to have supports under the PCB.
 

Offline jmelsonTopic starter

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Re: homemade stencil printing frame
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2018, 07:09:08 pm »
That looks.... scary.  8)

My stencil printer had similar design. But messing with screws is annoying, and routed and especially scored boards are not exactly same size. So if your board supports bolted to the bottom, you can't do per board adjustments easily. I replaced it with a simpler design. I 3d printed similarly profiled brackets with magnets in the bottom, and place them on a steel plate. No messing with screws, and I can always move the supports slightly if the board does not fit or is loose.

Also, I find for larger boards you need to have supports under the PCB.
Well, I always leave a LITTLE bit of room when setting the frame for the board.  This seems to work fine, without adjusting for each board.

Yes, I have some supports I can put in for the larger boards to support from the back.

Jon
 


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