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My PCB project's population time is currently 11 hours the last time I did it, from blank to tested, for one unit. The largest amount of time spent is on the resistors and capacitors - over 200 of them.
I mean, why not laser cut a mylar sheet? That's an existing method and works well for 0603 footprints and similar, and is also quicker.
Yes, that's the usual approach. Mylar sheets for short runs, stainless steel sheets for production. 3D printing in PLA probably won't have enough dimensional accuracy for fine pitch boards or boards of any size. The demo shown is a very small coarse pitch board. The thickness of the stencil matters, because that determines how much solder paste you are laying down. This approach is going to produce thick stencils. Th…
For those of us without the cash/apartment space for a PNP, has anyone experimented with a stencil system for populating passives? Is that even a thing? My PCB project's population time is currently 11 hours the last time I did it, from blank to tested, for one unit. The largest amount of time spent is on the resistors and capacitors - over 200 of them.
For those of us without the cash/apartment space for a PNP, has anyone experimented with a stencil system for populating passives? Is that even a thing? My PCB project's population time is currently 11 hours the last time I did it, from blank to tested, for one unit. The largest amount of time spent is on the resistors and capacitors - over 200 of them.
Getting a PCB mostly factory assembled for you is likely the better choice if you live in a building, as dropping hundreds of 100nF MLCC on a project can be brutal.
I guess the answer is yes one can do prototypes by hand if you take design considerations for pad access (sloppy mechanical tolerance for pencil/air rework), but probably one should be spending their time on design for lab EMC/EMI. =3
Robert Feranec does quite a few EE interviews, factory tours, and is generally accurate 97% of the time.
Also, even after ironing the surface will not be fully flat and some paste can end up in the space between the lines and go wasted.
A cheap low-power laser cutter is about the same price as a very cheap printer, which may be a better option if you can dial in the accuracy needed.
This looks great! I've ordered stencils and do 3D printing... kicking myself for not thinking of it. On the other hand, it gave me a great idea. What if you could 3D print the solder paste right onto the PCB using a tool that swaps out the hot end?
Cheap 3d printers are not terribly accurate, and the hot filament moves a bit (e.g. elephant foot). This method might not work well if your board is large or has very small components. Also, even after ironing the surface will not be fully flat and some paste can end up in the space between the lines and go wasted. A cheap low-power laser cutter is about the same price as a very cheap printer, which may be a better o…
For those of us without the cash/apartment space for a PNP, has anyone experimented with a stencil system for populating passives? Is that even a thing? My PCB project's population time is currently 11 hours the last time I did it, from blank to tested, for one unit. The largest amount of time spent is on the resistors and capacitors - over 200 of them.
What? These stencils are just for solder paste placement, you still need to actually place your components some other way before reflowing.