Collaborate Disseminate
There’s no denying how useful surface mount technology is, and how enabling the ability to make really small circuits has become. It comes at a price, though; most of us …read more Continue reading This Pogo Pin Test Fixture Keep Your SMDs from Taking Flight
The Pixel Pump is an open source manual pick & place assist tool by [Robin Reiter], and after a long road to completion, it’s ready to ship. We first saw …read more Continue reading Pixel Pump, the Open Source Vacuum Pickup Tool is Now Shipping
Electronics components are steadily moving away from through hole parts to using surface mount technology (SMT) exclusively. While the small size of the SMT components can be intimidating, with a …read more Continue reading Surface Mount Soldering Practice for Budding Electrical Engineers
Like a lot of Hackaday readers, I pride myself on being “the fix-it guy” in my family. When something breaks, I get excited, because it’s a chance to show off …read more Continue reading Fail of the Week: Hackaday Writer Attempts XBox Repair
Surface-mount technology has been a fantastic force multiplier for electronics in general and for hobbyists in particular. But sometimes you’ve got no choice but to use through-hole components, meaning that …read more Continue reading Modified 3D-Printer Solders Through-Hole Components
You can do your own Surface Mount Technology based PCB assembly with just a handful of tools and some patience. At the heart of my SMT process is stopping to inspect the various steps all while trying to maintain a …read more
Continue reading Learn Bil Herd’s DIY Surface Mount Assembly Process
The answer is yes, yes you can. As long as you have one made after about 2011, at least. In the video after the break, [Blitz City DIY] takes us briefly through the history of the venerable Easy-Bake Oven and into the future by reflow soldering a handful of small …read more
Continue reading Can You Use an Easy-Bake Oven for Reflow Soldering?
[Kadah]’s solution for storing short tapes of SMT parts is as attractive as it is clever. The small 3D-printed “tape reels” can double as dispensers, and stack nicely onto each other thanks to the sockets for magnets. The units come in a few different sizes, but are designed to stack …read more
Continue reading Spare SMD Storage, With Stacking SMT Tape Reels
There’s no question that surface-mount technology has been a game-changer for PCB design. It means easier automated component placement and soldering, and it’s a big reason why electronics have gotten so cheap. It’s not without problems, though, particularly when you have no choice but to include through-hole components on your …read more
The tapes that surface-mount devices come in may be optimized for automated pick and place, but woe betide those who try to dig components out manually. No matter what size package, the well on the tape seems to be just a wee bit too small to allow tweezers to grip …read more
Continue reading Control The Suck With This Manual Vacuum Pick-And-Place Tool