Single Component Stainless Steel Stencil

[s1ig0]

Hi,

Every so often I need to produce a home-made pcb for prototyping.  I try to stick with through-hole stuff when I can, but every so often I have no option but to work with smd.   Last weekend I had the displeasure of having to hand-solder a 16 pin thin-lead tssop part.  I hand-roll my footprints in Kicad to give me the best chance of success (fatter, longer pads when that makes sense), but even so it's a total pain.

Thinking about alternative ways to get the job done, I thought: wouldn't it be cool if you had a set of multiple-use, single component stainless steel stencils for more awkward package types.  I'm actually OK to hand-solder quite a few smd package types, but the smaller ones are always a nuisance.  The point is, I wouldn't need a complete board stencil, just ones that help me with the awkward ones.

So, I had a look around this morning and I came across these guys (http://www.proto-advantage.com/store/index.php?cPath=3000_3200_3230), Proto Advantage stencils.  I'm just wondering if anyone has used these and what their experience has been?  One obvious disadvantage is that you need some clearance for the stencil.  That might be OK, provided you remembered to get the stencil parts done first and I typically don't have crowded boards anyway.  Thoughts?

[SMTech]

Well you'd need something suitably small to squeegee it with, from an arts supplies or cake decorating kit perhaps but otherwise rework stencils aren't that uncommon if it floats your boat. Of course you could stick a whole bunch of these footprints into a cheapy floppy stencil from china and then cut them out for a saving. That said, TSSOP16 should be fairly easy by hand with a decent flux, solder & iron combo SSOP are the bigger stinkers because they have fat legs with small gaps between, which sadly also makes them more prone to shorts when using a stencil if you don't tweak the apertures.

[s1ig0]

It's funny, they always turn out OK after hand-soldering.  I mean, there's little you can't do with flux and braid.  But, I always face into it feeling that I'm going to mess it up, bridge the pins and spend 20 minutes longer trying to sort it out.  I reckon two out of three times that's precisely what happens.  It'd be nice to have a method that just "works".  Ordering a cheap multi-part stencil and cutting it up is a good idea.  Has anyone ordered one recently and can share a link?

[jpanhalt]

I considered those ProtoAdvantage stencils, but for the price, you could design one with several footprints and have it made in China or OSHStencils.

Oops, I just saw your location.  For me the biggest advantage of OSHStencils is shipping.  They can be big,