Manual Pick and Place

[JohnSL]

Hi,

After assembling some SMD PCBs with a solder paste stencil and hand-placing the 0603 components, I started to look around for pick and place machines. In the process, I learned about manual pick and place machines. While these sound really compelling, the price certainly doesn't. I did find one for $200, but they don't have any in stock, and they're not answering their emails. So, I decided to see if I could create my own. I've attached an image of what I have so far. This uses 3/4" square aluminum tubes I purchased from Lowes as the sliders, along with 608 bearings. All these parts are very inexpensive. I'm also using 3D printed parts to tie them together.



I've also ordered various other parts, such as a Tetra air pump that I can turn into a vacuum pump. What do other people think? Am I going in the right direction?

Thanks,
  -- John

[sleemanj]

http://hackaday.com/2012/11/24/an-inexpensive-manual-pick-and-place-machine/

[JohnSL]

Cool! Thanks for the link. That will certainly help a lot.