Tony Vandiver wrote:
> Sort of in keeping with the topic, what's generally accepted as the next
> step between these hand-soldering processes and mass production?  I
> routinely run into situations where I need to place a couple thousand
> SMT parts, and it kills me to do this by hand.  I've got a bid in on a
> very used screen printer, but would still have to place parts by hand
> and reflow somehow.  I've done reflows on preprinted boards on a hot
> plate in a pinch, and the capital investment for a hot-plate is small
> (I'm sure that a placement machine is way out of my budget) but does
> anyone have any further advice on not-so-mass production that doesn't
> involve one at a time connections with an iron?

For one offs of small quantities, that's how it is.  The stencil and
programming charges would outweigh any savings.  Look around and you can
probably find small assembly houses that are set up for exactly this kind of
work.  There are several within 1/2 hour drive of my location, for example.
Ask around.  These places are not always obvious to find, even when you know
what you're looking for.  One place I use a lot for this kind of stuff only
charges $35/hour.  They don't even have a pick and place machine.  Places
like that are also good for getting other manual work done that can't easily
be automated, like mounting 100 boards in custom boxes, making custom
cables, doing some testing, rework, etc.  It's good know a place or two like
that locally.


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