Cheap SMT Stencils
ohararp
Posts: 24
Propheads,
I hate advertisements just as much as everyone else.· However, I have grown from being a simple hobbyist on these forums to actually making some money using parallax and other products.· One thing I found especially handy was the ability to make surface mount products quickly and easily.· Key to this has been the use of mylar stencils.· Seeing an opportunity to provide others with this capability seemed to make logical sense and we recently purchased a laser expressly for this purpose.
We are offering 8.5"x11" mylar stencils for SMT designs.· You send us a .eps file of the SMT resist layer and we'll send you a mylar stencil the next business day.· .EPS files are easily generated from most PCB packages (Eagle and ISIS I can confirm).
You can use these stencils to make your own hobby or even commercial products.· See how we make our gps loggers via http://www.instructables.com/id/EV6AYB8F4WXXL1X·using these stencils.
These are the same stencils used by Sparkfun in their tutorials - http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/present.php?p=Stenciling
Stop by and check out our site at www.ohararp.com/Stencils.html
PS If you have other questions about these stencils feel free to drop us a line via this thread!
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Regards, Ryan O'Hara
Check out our $20 SMT Stencils!!!
www.ohararp.com/Stencils.html
Post Edited (ohararp) : 2/4/2008 3:51:20 AM GMT
I hate advertisements just as much as everyone else.· However, I have grown from being a simple hobbyist on these forums to actually making some money using parallax and other products.· One thing I found especially handy was the ability to make surface mount products quickly and easily.· Key to this has been the use of mylar stencils.· Seeing an opportunity to provide others with this capability seemed to make logical sense and we recently purchased a laser expressly for this purpose.
We are offering 8.5"x11" mylar stencils for SMT designs.· You send us a .eps file of the SMT resist layer and we'll send you a mylar stencil the next business day.· .EPS files are easily generated from most PCB packages (Eagle and ISIS I can confirm).
You can use these stencils to make your own hobby or even commercial products.· See how we make our gps loggers via http://www.instructables.com/id/EV6AYB8F4WXXL1X·using these stencils.
These are the same stencils used by Sparkfun in their tutorials - http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/present.php?p=Stenciling
Stop by and check out our site at www.ohararp.com/Stencils.html
PS If you have other questions about these stencils feel free to drop us a line via this thread!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Regards, Ryan O'Hara
Check out our $20 SMT Stencils!!!
www.ohararp.com/Stencils.html
Post Edited (ohararp) : 2/4/2008 3:51:20 AM GMT
Comments
I would love to have someone provide transparencies for photo exposure.· Many people may have the right software, but be shut out by the wrong printer.
Ever since I broke my HP inkjet and replace it with a Canon product, I have been unable to make my own transparencies. The Canon does not have the same ink that the HP uses. It beads up rather than flows. The image is a complete mess. And the density of a transparency on my Xerox laser printer is not dark enough to properly work with photo-emulsions. It is quite daunting to buy a 3rd printer just for hobby work.
I guess I am asking if someone does this and can assure that the image density will work with Kinsten or similarly prepared circuit boards.
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PLEASE CONSIDER the following:
Do you want a quickly operational black box solution or the knowledge included therein?······
Post Edited (Kramer) : 2/4/2008 4:44:18 PM GMT
They make very nice stencils, and the price is excellent.
Although you don't know·me, you can take my word, the stencils are definitely worth the money.
James L
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James L
Partner/Designer
Lil Brother LLC (SMT Assembly Services)
Post Edited (James Long) : 2/4/2008 5:22:22 PM GMT
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
This is a neat project:
pico-systems.com/photoplot.html
Graham
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Tracy Allen
www.emesystems.com
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Tracy Allen
www.emesystems.com
Ryan is using a laser, so I would think it may be possible.
James L
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James L
Partner/Designer
Lil Brother LLC (SMT Assembly Services)
QFN pads are not a problem...even the little 8 pin pads.· The trouble usually comes from high pin count TQFP packages with really fine pitches.· The TQFP packages have really long and thin pads·We can do some things to still cut these but they require more work.· If your design did have an issue we would notify you first and since we do not authorize your card till the item ships you would not be charged until a resolution could be found, or your money would be returned.
If you have any questions about your order you can send the design to stencils@ohararp.com and we can tell you if it will work or not.· I'll possibly add this to get prior approval to the webpage.
Otherwise I will try and get some pics of the small qfn stuff and post them here.· The clear mylar stencils are very hard to take pictures of due to contrast issues.
Kramer, the mylar sheets are basically overhead transparencies.· If this would work for you I don't see why we couldn't cut the stencil for you.· If clear mylar wouldn't work what other material would?· We can cut acrylic very easily on the laser.
In general, we would also like to provide other low cost cutting options for people out there but are working on a way to do this cheaply and easily.· The php/mysql work is a bit pricey for custom quoting, if enough people are interested we could definitely look into this more.
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Regards, Ryan O'Hara
Check out our $20 SMT Stencils!!!
www.ohararp.com/Stencils.html
Post Edited (ohararp) : 2/4/2008 9:06:44 PM GMT
Graham
James L
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James L
Partner/Designer
Lil Brother LLC (SMT Assembly Services)
On the HP, everything is fine as I suspect they add an emulsifier to the ink to make it flow well on plastics. HP just seems to understand that plastic is a viable printing media. But the ink in the Canon inkjet just beads up and the image is useless. The same film in my Fuji Xerox works, but is not dark enough for photo exposure. I've wasted several boards and invested in a 60 second timer with relay to precisely control the exposure. I don't currently own an iron [noparse][[/noparse]have a Chinese laundry across the street], so I've never tried the laser printer for laser transfer method with slick coated paper.
In neither inkjet case is the ink ever 100% dry. One must be careful not to smear the image. I am unsure if the HP will print a very fine pitch as I haven't done any thing other than DIP.
It would be nice to job it out to a service that provides an image that is precise, very dense, completely dry, and stable. Then I could easily keep the transparencies on file rather than have to remake smeared images [noparse][[/noparse]they don't store well].
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PLEASE CONSIDER the following:
Do you want a quickly operational black box solution or the knowledge included therein?······
Graham
www.soldertools.net/smt-stencils-1
I worked with and installed, industrial laser systems for a few years. Most had 4 figure power ratings.
Copper is a difficult material. In machining, it is tenacious. Proper feeds and speeds really matter as do tools and coatings.
With lasers, it is highly reflective and an excellent heat conductor. Both of those = more power to do work.
At that time, higher power was a problem for small details. What I ended up doing was to apply a coating.
Maybe doing that makes sense with these lower power machines. Might put removal within reach of some of them
Just putting it out there.
https://www.johnsonplastics.com/engraving/engraving-supplies/cermark
The mist dries to a fine powder which gets melted by the laser and bonded to the metal substrate. Not sure how you get the stuff off after etching, though.
-Phil