"zindazenda" wrote in message
...
"Allan Butler" wrote in message
news:ALRjc.5600$Rd4.566539@attbi_s51...
What I have done in the past is to tin the pads where the parts are
going
to be mounted and then I use two soldering irons. One on each pad and
it
pulls the part right down into a good position.

Ok ok I hear the question now. What about parts with more than two
leads?

That is a valid and good question. Only tin two pads for that part and
use
the soldering iron on each one of the pads to get the part mounted and
in
position to finish soldering the rest of the leads one at a time.

no..on investugation this looks well abit crap..i cant see how it is going
to work with 100 sm 0805 components..
so anyother ideas..
can one buy flow soldering equipment s/h???
g0zen..

Actually, for the occasional prototype, the two-iron method, while a bit
tedious, works. (and while 0402 parts are a bit of a bear, even with my
aging vision I can handle 0805's and 0603's with this method ... but it
takes time and patience and I don't like to do a *lot* of parts that way)

You can also, with a bit of practice and care, use a "heat gun" to reflow
boards if you don't envision doing enough of it to justify the cost of
"real" reflow equipment.

I purchased a very nice and effective hot-air system for about $350 new on
e-bay (search on "reflow" - the brand I bought is "ATTEN" and it's
distributed by a company called "smtpros" if I recall correctly) ... and
I've also purchased a toaster oven for the "ez-bake" method ... do a search
on Google or Yahoo and you will find a Yahoo group on "ez-bake" with a long
thread of useful and informative discussion and hints.

Remember, for reflow you need solder *paste* ... available from a number of
sources on the web. I prefer the "no clean flux" kind, though I usually
clean the boards afterwards anyway ...

73,
Carl - wk3c