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| Stencil printer |
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| davorin:
Evenin' (o; As my eyesight gets worse and worse and components smaller and smaller and are mostly available in non-selfsolderable packages..the only way now seems to be going with SMT stencils and either do reflow or vapor phase soldering... But when I searched for stencil printers...I only find commercial products....nowhere any construction plans to be found for building an own one.... Has anyone came across how to build a simple and still accurate stencil printer which can handle fine pitch down to 0.4mm? I have enough metal lying around and two CNC machines for building (o; |
| sleemanj:
Do you mean a stencil cutter, or an actual stencil printer (device to align a stencil over the board and spread the paste)? Regarding cutting, people obtain very good results from cutting stencils from transpencies using the "Gerber2Graphtec" scripts and Silhouette Cameo or Portrait craft cutters, down to about 0.5mm pitch, 0201 discrete components... https://github.com/pmonta/gerber2graphtec http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=5341 If it's an "printer" you want, that's a different matter. |
| tggzzz:
Stencils are only beneficial if you are making many copies of an individual board. It takes significant practice to use them well. If you are making many boards, consider getting them manufactured externally. If you are only making one board, then * get the board made with a solder mask * use a magnifying visor with a lens mounted on a headband (with your glasses if necessary) * place the solder paste with a toothpick or jewellers screwdriverWhen reflowing, e.g. in a saucepan, the paste will retract away from the solder mask. There are many videos on youtube showing this. |
| zapta:
--- Quote from: tggzzz on October 03, 2014, 11:45:44 pm ---... place the solder paste with a toothpick or jewellers screwdriver. --- End quote --- I tried it with 0.5mm pitch and it was very difficult. Anybody has any experience with those dispensers? They are supposed to delivered a measured amount and have a negative pressure at the end to stop dripping. Currently I am using stencils but this may be a better approach for prototyping. |
| Spikee:
--- Quote from: sleemanj on October 03, 2014, 11:38:35 pm ---Do you mean a stencil cutter, or an actual stencil printer (device to align a stencil over the board and spread the paste)? Regarding cutting, people obtain very good results from cutting stencils from transpencies using the "Gerber2Graphtec" scripts and Silhouette Cameo or Portrait craft cutters, down to about 0.5mm pitch, 0201 discrete components... https://github.com/pmonta/gerber2graphtec http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=5341 If it's an "printer" you want, that's a different matter. --- End quote --- I do this for my own projects. But i also offer my stencil service on ebay. You need to make quite a few stencils to get to the break even point. It might be more economically viable to get them made for you. Heck i offer a4 size stencils for 10$ with fast shipping, that is not a bad deal at all. They are really easy to use and save you a lot of time versus hand soldering. Even sparkfun uses a vinyl cutter to make stencils for all their prototype boards. |
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