A very nice treat from the PCB Carolina show last week was this set of samples from Nordson EFD. With Freescale FXOS8700CQ magnetometer/accellerometer chips and a Sparkfun Heaterizer XL-3000 on the way I need to get with it, get a PC board design off to OSH Park and prepare to use small SMD components. The Heaterizer is a stop gap while my hot air tool budget catches up with desire, and I’m hoping to get some lessons from a friend with professional equipment. But with this top quality solder paste I think I’m approaching critical mass. Thanks to John Conti of Nordson EFD for the technical info and support for my modest goals.
Even if you’re not interested in the Sparkfun $10 hot air tool you might find the instruction manual fun to read. But seriously, folks, this surface mount tutorial at the Sparkfun site makes it clear that individuals inexpensive tools can join in the fun.
UPDATE FROM 2021: The SparkFun Heaterizer was incapable of surface mount soldering. I ended up using a cheapo Chinese oven until I could modify a convection oven with interior hi temp reflective material and thermocouple/microprocessor control for proper heating/cooling profiles to do surface mount soldering. The oven is inside a decent fume hood with exhaust air out a flue for safety and to avoid any odor problems. The proper hot air tool came along too, but I still find it best to apply paste with a stainless steel stencil from OSH Stencils and use a reflow oven for professional level results, with the hot air tool for rework or the occasional expedient operation. Finally, the FXOS8700CQ is EOL and last possible purchases will be at the end of 2021, so time to find a replacement. A client and I are investigating the ST LSM303AG as an alternative. It isn’t lacks the capability to interrupt on magnetic vector magnitude events but the price is right!