V G wrote:
> but I could save a few square
> inches for sure by placing smaller components and avoiding through
> hole resistors, capacitors, and ICs. I don't want to go SUPER tiny,
> but just all surface mount.

Then 0805 should be your preferred package size.  Parts are readily
available in that package, but they're big enough to handle and solder
easily.  They are much easier to solder and unsolder than the equavalent
thru hole parts.

For ICs, keep to anything with physical leads coming out and try to keep to
pin pitches of 1mm or more.  1mm pitch is still "easy", but it gets harder
from there as the pitch gets smaller.  Stay away from QFN.  Even some
professional hand-assembly places mess those up.  They are meant for machin=
e
placement only.  They can be done with speciliazed equipment, like a hot ai=
r
station.  Don't even think about doing them with a soldering iron.

> But the problem with surface mount is,
> they're all sold in the 1000s quantity.

No they're not.  A quick check of Mouser or Digikey would have shown you
that.  You can always buy strips of cut tape.  For small jellybean parts yo=
u
won't save much by buying less than 100 or so, but then they're real cheap
anyway.  Since you're obviously into this, you should be building up your
own stock too.  Always buy some more than you need, unless the part is very
specialized and expensive.  By the way, building up stock is a never-ending
process.


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