Here's a neat trick I use to solder smt parts as small as 1/10th watt
resistors. Use a small strip (about 3/16 wide, 1 inch long) to pick up half of
the chip. One strip of tape will solder about 20 parts before it becomes
useless. I put the chip resistor on the table and lay it over half the device.
Pick it up with the tape and "tape" in in place where you want it. Solder the
exposed end first, then remove the tape and solder the other end. This makes
for accurate placement of the device. Use only masking tape. No plastic
electrical tape. Use a 20 watt soldering pencil with a needle point. Use only
.015 dia low temp solder.

This is the cheapest way. Once you get enough money and you do a lot of smt
work, get a hot air system to solder with. No iron and nothing touches the
device but the solder and the hot air. If you can find some solder "paste", a
combination of minute solder nodules and flux, nothing touches the work but the
heat. You might be able to obtain this paste from someonethat does a lot of smt
rework.
Rick

Aaron Whipple wrote:

> in all of my classes i have learned to use ic sockets, and the industrial
> ways of soldering smt devices. i am working on a project that i do not want
> the ic to wiggle out of the socket, i am not worried about having to swap
> out the ic so i wish to solder it directly to the board. what ways do you
> recomend to solder ics and smts to a pcb within a hobiest budget, without
> overheating them?
>
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