On Thu, 23 Jun 2016 20:16:34 -0500 Oz-in-DFW <[email protected]> wrote:
> 1. Pick and place machines use a lot of floor space (even for the > "small" ones are more than 1/2 a bench.) > 2. Even the best ones require pretty continuous tuning. If you aren't > using them continuously each new run is a new and different > experience. Often unpleasant for the first few scrapped boards. The trick is to use semi-manual pick&place machines for low volumes. Ie machines that you do not program, but guide by hand. This allows faster and more accurate placing of components than would be possible with a pure manual process, but does not have any of the complexity of the fully automated solutions. The components do not need to be 100% exactly centered, as the surface tension of the molten solder will pull the parts into place (which is also the reason why the copper inside the solder resist mask should be symmetric). These machines are still all pretty expensive (IMHO, the cheapest start from around 2kusd IIRC), but with the continuous growth of the hobbyist market, and that market becomming more and more professional/proficient, the production volumes of these machines will for sure rise and thus become cheaper. I am pretty sure that we will see hobbyist marketed pick&place systems build upon open source based control systems in the next couple of years. There are already a couple of DIY systems out there, that look quite good. e.g http://vpapanik.blogspot.de/2012/11/low-budget-manual-pick-place.html http://www.briandorey.com/post/Diy-Manual-Pick-and-Place-Machine-part-1 > Solder stencils make **all** the difference. Oh, yes! Please, do not try syringe dispensers! These fail more often than they work. Also pay the additional couple of bucks to get a steel stencil instead of a kapton one. Especially if you make more than one or two boards or those with fine pitch. Attila Kinali -- It is upon moral qualities that a society is ultimately founded. All the prosperity and technological sophistication in the world is of no use without that foundation. -- Miss Matheson, The Diamond Age, Neil Stephenson _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
