Telamon wrote:

Yes I have. I can't do it without the microscope. The smallest I have
worked with is 0402 size under 10X. We have parts that are half that
size now but I have not solder them myself.


I've worked wit 0402, but the parts I hate are those resistor packs
the size of a 1206 that solder down the sides.

If I'm planning to do do some soldering work I don't take my morning
coffee.


I don't drink coffee but I had to have caffeine to steady my hands so
I kept a cold 2 liter bottle of Diet Mountain Dew in my Coleman cooler
with my lunch. I get a lot of headaches and the only things that take
the edge off are chocolate and caffeine.

It's just a physical skill that many engineers don't have so I end up
fixing things for other people.


Most of the engineers I've worked with shouldn't be allowed near a
soldering iron. I had to strip and rebuild so many prototypes it wasn't
funny. They worked too slow and used too much solder so there were a
lot of bridges and cold joints. Its fun trying to test a wideband
synthesizer with electronically switched multiple inductor segments that
was hand assembled to test a design change when the engineer couldn't
solder. Some off the techs were just as bad, though.


--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida