well i have just made 12 boards holding 100 or so 0805, 223, 20sm dil.etc..
it took a day..
in the end i got out very small twezzers placed the components on board held
in place by small drop of super glue dispensed by end of tooth pick, and
held down by other end of pick till dry....
then soldered using small iron...
all worked first go...

BUT.. my eyes didn't half hurt by the end...

there must be a better way..ez-bake i dont think is it..any other ideas??

how is it done professionally..???

g0zen
"G.Beat" wrote in message
news:48Tkc.9109$0H1.998600@attbi_s54...
"Ian White, G3SEK" wrote in message
...

For many irons, you can also buy fork-ended solder tips that bridge over
the parts. I made one by cutting and filing an old tip, and it worked OK
for parts removal. However, it would need some co-ordination to make the
tip contact the two pads without also knocking the part out of place.

Yes, a number of SMT tips for Pace and Weller soldering irons/stations.

Weller TCP series
http://www.wassco.com/csmsurmounsm.html

Pace irons (3/16" tip)
http://store1.yimg.com/I/was_1789_9025999


The toaster oven looks like a much better method for a whole-board
assembly project, except for two key problems:

1. Solder paste is expensive

Depends on the size you are looking at. Yes, the large sizes can be
expensive.

The syringe sizes (35 g) are about what I pay for a 1 lb roll of solder
and are the only sizes that I purchase for small projects (less waste)
http://www.wassco.com/kessolsn.html

R276 No-Clean, 35g WAS-01-021403$12.95
R500 Water Soluble, 35g WAS-01-021603$12.95

2. Solder paste doesn't keep (seems to have about the same time constant
as Horowitz & Hill's wet fish)

Ian, my brother is the buyer/shipping coordinator for a major fresh water
fish distributor in SE USA.
Missed plane connection in Anchorage, Alaska (polar route from Hong Kong
to
Atlanta) ..
leads to frozen fish .. when you wanted live !

Wassco notifies all buyers of their shipment policies:
Solder Paste must ship overnight in a refrigerated condition.
We will contact you to discuss the extra freight charges that will apply.

Those are big problems for occasional, low-volume users such as
ourselves. So the questions a

1. Where's a low-cost source of solder paste? (in various parts of the
world)

Wassco is the recomemnded source for solder and tools Elecraft builders.
Of course this is California based. Maybe a talk to some of the UK
distibutors?

2. How can we either store it so it stays fresh; or re-constitute it
after it's gorn orf?


Refrigerator - that's how I bought it at the Acitve Electronics stores in
US, before they closed.
I was also told they did not keep solder paste more than 2 to 3 months at
each store.

Store in a refrigerator away from your normal late night consumables .....
or that pasty taste in your mouth might be the last tube for your project.

Surface Mount Technology Assn.
http://smta.org/

Greg
w9gb