I'd like to have a spare hot plate, and I could probably find at least 1 other person to go in on one.
The thing is we need to make at least 10 of them, minimum, for the cost to be reasonable. Making 3 units just isn't going to make sense, financially.
I mean, if some high roller wants to bankroll it anyway, I'll get to work, but my strike price is $40 or less.
Ngl would like to have one for when I get my pcb printer up & running eventually………
PCB printer? Like a CNC?
In any case, yeah: PBC manufacturing -> pick 'n' place -> hot plate FTW.
If you're making a lot of stuff, get a conveyer belt style hot bed. They do the preferred heat profile of the solder, including warming it up slowly, heating it to whatever temperature for some specific time, and then letting it cool down at the appropriate rate.
I don't do all that. I just melt it and then turn it off. Works fine in practice.
Yes pcb printer not a cnc pcb etcher.
I haven’t been able to find a small e nuff pnp yet got any leads?
Never heard of a conveyor belt systems like that? I’d assume that’s for more mass production?
I’m just trying to prototype my own stuff.
Garage mad scientist in training.
Facinating. I've never heard of a PCB printer before. Where can I find out more about this?
There's some open source software that can be used with DIY parts. I know a local hacker who built one. I can ask him for more info next time I bump into him.
Conveyor is for larger scale production. They have small ones that will fit on a counter top of lab bench, but total overkill for just making one-offs.
I have a argentum new in box that I bought years ago.
Still needs to be set up.
Probably gonna have to find where I can get new printable silver tho.
Was purchased when I owned my mining company.
We were going to prototype shit like gecco science/bitaxe back then with our broken/obsolete miners.
For a DIY pnp, check out https://openpnp.org/
I’m gonna have to spend some time mulling this over.
If you are mainly doing one-offs, I'm not sure a pnp is really necesary. It's not that hard to place components as long as they are 0402 (imperial) or larger. I'm trying to move to 0603s and larger, personally.
Then again, my main project with SMT parts is the Signet and there are only like 15 or so components. Maybe a pnp would still make sense for big, complicated things, even if they are one-offs
The tedious part is applying solder paste without a stencil. A laser cutter might make it worth making a stencil for a prototype or one-off, but paying $7 for a stencil that is only gong to be used once, on a $3 board is cringe, IMO.
It’s definitely not that’s for sure.
But I have some crazy ideas.
3d printers for solder paste?
Idk everything I do is at a snails pace lol
I like that. With the syringe style applicator, it seems like it would work pretty well.
Apparently, there's nothing new under the sun.
Well damn lol.
