Homebrew SMD soldering iron

adam12 · 9th March 2006, 01:55 AM

I did not see that this was yet posted on the forum or in the Wiki but I did check it over for a while. I have seen people use toaster ovens to solder small SMD parts but I had not yet seen this one. A friend at work sent me the link. Could be nice for those tiny op amps etc. It is a modification to a de-soldering station to make it into a localized hot air reflow station. No.. I have not tried making one because we have a reflow oven at work but I am designing 0603 parts and seriously considering it for single part assembly.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/07/how-to-make-a-surface-mount-soldering-iron/

CBS240 · 9th March 2006, 04:53 AM

I have used 0603 resistors quit a bit and have figured out how to solder them in acuratly, but it takes a steady hand and a low wattage soldering iron with a small tip though. I use a small 1/8" flat head screw driver that I have stuck to a magnet for a while. It retains enough magnetic flux to pic up these tiny components so that they are flush with the end of the screw driver as they are about the same thickness, 0.5mm I think. Anyway, I melt solder onto one side of the connection, then place one side of the resistor into the molten solder. The surface tension sticks it to the solder and then I use the screwdriver to move and hold it into place. When the solder cools, I solder the other side and wallaaahh! tiny smd circuits. This technique is certainly low tech but it works. A magnifying glass is helpfull. I can assemble fairly quickly this way...but I not a robot.

If it were only that easy to desolder these things out when I mess up and use the wrong one

. That is the real challenge...without making a complete mess out of the whole thing.

I actually prefer these to the 0803 which are a little larger, you can almost see them

. The 0803's are just big enough not to stick to my screwdriver and become actually harder to use.

go figure...

VEC7OR · 9th March 2006, 11:59 AM

Thats a really slick solution. I work at fast proto service, we use alot of tools, but generally I solder SMD by hand with a pretty normal tip, just takes some practise.

I really like this one http://www.dansworkshop.com/SMT%20Ho...20Pencil.shtml
This comes very very close to commercial designs, maybe I'll build one some time in the future.

9th March 2006, 01:55 AM	#1
adam12 diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Newark CA	Homebrew SMD soldering iron I did not see that this was yet posted on the forum or in the Wiki but I did check it over for a while. I have seen people use toaster ovens to solder small SMD parts but I had not yet seen this one. A friend at work sent me the link. Could be nice for those tiny op amps etc. It is a modification to a de-soldering station to make it into a localized hot air reflow station. No.. I have not tried making one because we have a reflow oven at work but I am designing 0603 parts and seriously considering it for single part assembly. http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/07/how-to-make-a-surface-mount-soldering-iron/

9th March 2006, 04:53 AM	#2
CBS240 diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: K-town	I have used 0603 resistors quit a bit and have figured out how to solder them in acuratly, but it takes a steady hand and a low wattage soldering iron with a small tip though. I use a small 1/8" flat head screw driver that I have stuck to a magnet for a while. It retains enough magnetic flux to pic up these tiny components so that they are flush with the end of the screw driver as they are about the same thickness, 0.5mm I think. Anyway, I melt solder onto one side of the connection, then place one side of the resistor into the molten solder. The surface tension sticks it to the solder and then I use the screwdriver to move and hold it into place. When the solder cools, I solder the other side and wallaaahh! tiny smd circuits. This technique is certainly low tech but it works. A magnifying glass is helpfull. I can assemble fairly quickly this way...but I not a robot. If it were only that easy to desolder these things out when I mess up and use the wrong one . That is the real challenge...without making a complete mess out of the whole thing. I actually prefer these to the 0803 which are a little larger, you can almost see them . The 0803's are just big enough not to stick to my screwdriver and become actually harder to use. go figure... __________________ All the trouble I've ever been in started out as fun......

9th March 2006, 11:59 AM	#3
VEC7OR diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Vilnius	Thats a really slick solution. I work at fast proto service, we use alot of tools, but generally I solder SMD by hand with a pretty normal tip, just takes some practise. I really like this one http://www.dansworkshop.com/SMT%20Ho...20Pencil.shtml This comes very very close to commercial designs, maybe I'll build one some time in the future. __________________ Profanity took a very interesting form in Russia where there exists a language of sorts, most of its words based on four basic profane roots - nouns p...is, wh.0.e, c..t and verb f..k. It is possible to sensibly communicate using just these four basic roots.

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