With what I learnt from making PCBs last time, I was speaking to ‘The Langster!‘ at work, when I had some thoughts about improving the SMT Stencil / shield we use to apply the solder paste,
I have had another quick look at the Manchester Hack-space’s IR oven, a little Puhui T-962 from China. I thought about how big the heated draw is, and set about measuring it with that always handy measurement tool… the ISO 216 A4 sheet of paper (Obviously would not fit as a full A4 sheet!):
So looking at that, the oven should be able to take a PCB up to about A5 size fairly comfortably 🙂 looking at the people I have ordered PCBs from before (Some I would use again, others I would not by choice!)
ALL PCB | Ragworm | Elecrow | ||||
| 2 Layer | 4 Layer | 2 Layer | 2 Layer | 4 Layer | ||
| A5 PCB | 148 x 210 mm | $43.26 | $95.37 | £361.31 | $78.00 | $179.60 |
| A6 PCB | 105 x 148 mm | $30.31 | $71.25 | £216.78 | $38.40 | $111.00 |
| 10 pc 2/4 Layer standard FR4 (These prices are just a quick grab, no shipping or anything. As such are to be considered indicative, etc). | ||||||
As you can see from the table A5 and A6 PCBs in the 10 are not bad prices from two of the suppliers, and both A4 and A6 are bigger than the ‘Sick of Beige standard PCB sizes‘ (github link), Arduino Shields (70 x 53 mm), Raspberry Pi Hats (65 x 57 mm), or any PCB you are likely to need for 99.9% of all projects 😀
AllPCB will sell you a SMT Stencil along with your PCBs, for about $12.00 so that is not bad (P&P may make you cry).
So what am I up to? I have been thinking about how to make a better SMT stencil using Mylar from eBay. I bought a pack of 10 A5 sheets for £3.99, the Mylar is of negligible thickness, PCBs are generally 1.6 mm of FR4, and Kitronik sell 1.5 mm thick Birch Ply (£7.20) or HIPS (£1.14) (link).
