Tag changed to EE as it clearly should have been in the first place.  How is
this not engineering and even electrical engineering related!!?

While it's obviously bad to post off topic on PIC or EE, it's just as
important to use those topics when relevant.  If people did that reliably,
some of us wouldn't feel the need to subscribe to OT and there'd be less
complaining about Russell's excesses and all the IT related posts.  (I am
not an admin so this is my personal opinion.)

Rolf wrote:
> My intention with this project is to etch my own board as well...

With a lot of effort and mucking about with nasty chemicals that have to
disposed of properly, you might end up with something that's half as good as
a commercial PCB.  You won't have plated thru holes.  Unless you value your
time at a small fraction of minimum wage, etching your own PCBs just doesn't
make sense anymore.  Commercial prototype services are relatively cheap and
available and of good quality.

> So, given that I have some small successful hobby projects behind me,
> and that I am interested in persuing many more projects, I figure it is
> time to get more "professional" and compact in my execution.

Why?  Unless you really need the space, SMD in your situation is only useful
for showing off to your friends.  You can make well constructed and reliable
circuits in a variety of ways.  Using SMD parts is neither a necessary nor
sufficient condition.

> In order to go ahead with the SMT process though, I will have to
> re-stock all the components I have with SMT equivalents,

I would go with what you've got.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with a
1/4W thru hole resistor.  If you want to transition to SMD (that may be a
good idea long term), use up the old thru hole parts and buy new SMD parts.
The main attraction to SMD is lower assembly cost, but this is irrelevant
when building singles by hand.

> and a I will
> have to manually solder them to a home-brewed PCB.

I think it's actually easier to solder 2 pin 0805 parts than the equivalent
thru hole.  You don't have to flip the board over and snip off the extra
lead length.

> Is this something that is feasable with limited resources/budget?

Feasible, yes.  SMD parts are generally cheaper and more available, but the
parts already in your cabinet are the cheapest and most available of all.
Again, I would use up the old thru hole parts but replace them with SMD
parts as appropriate.

> There are some things I will have to do through-hole as well (sockets
> and connectors)....

Absolutely.  Anything that takes mechanical stress should be thru hole.

> I need to know whether it
> would be possible to do so with the same equipment that would be used
> for pure through-hole projects. Would I need any special tools?

I find messing with 0805 resistors/capacitors easier than their thru hole
counterparts.  You might want a thinner pointier tip for your soldering
iron, and you definitely want a pair of tweezers.  I like the kind where the
last inch or so is bent at an angle.  You might also want to get a spool of
smaller diameter solder, depending on what you already have.

> Is this something that is within reach of a beginner-to-intermediate
> hobbyist?

Definitely.


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