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Messages - JohnSL

1
Project logs / Re: Pick and Place Machine by ProtoVoltaics
I've been watching this with interest until I saw the price. I was expecting a price of about $1,000-2,000 based on the billing of low price. However the Kickstarter price looks to be more than the smallsmt.biz machines, which have full vision, run at 3600 cph, and are shipping today, so no risk.
3
General discussion / Re: DirtyPCBs.com updates
[quote author="ian"]BTW: Any thoughts on two things:
1. Add PCB tools to store (solder paste - small tubs of mechanic only, spreader - a really good one, tweezers). Anything else?
2. FREE mylar stencils :) bought the laser cutter and mylar today. Hope to be testing by the end of the week.[/quote]

I've been making my own stencils with Mylar, and I experimented with both raster and vector cutting. I prefer the raster because it seems to produce less of a burr on the edges. So you might want to experiment with both approaches. I'm really happy with the results.
4
Tools of the trade / Re: Sub $100 Manual Pick and Place
Here are the two links that I promised. The first link is to my blog post on building the machine:

http://trains.socha.com/2014/07/buildin ... chine.html

The next link is to my blog post about building the circuit boards, which includes some videos of using this machine, using the T-962 reflow oven, and programming the boards.

http://trains.socha.com/2014/07/buildin ... oards.html

And finally, here are the STL files for the 3D printed parts:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:385567

  -- John
5
Tools of the trade / Sub $100 Manual Pick and Place
I needed to do a small production run (about 50 boards) and didn't want to use tweezers for the assembly. So I designed and built a manual pick and place machine for about $50 or so. Unfortunately, since this is my first post, I can't provide any links. So I'll attach a single photo, and then with a later post add the links.

[attachment=1]
And here is a side view:

[attachment=0]
We used this machine to make 56 boards, and my friend said it helped a lot. I'd really love to have an automatic machine, but they're a lot more expensive, and would have taken quite a bit of time to tune for just a few boards.

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