Steven,
have you found a page with the various smt IC footprints shown?? I
was in need of several temples but realized that if I can find
some thin sheetmetal stock (like K&S and others sell) then
grabbing the particular IC or part footprint could make a
stainless steel stencil easily. The only trick and it is not much
of a trick any more is that the footprint (assuming that toner
transfer method is going to be used and not photo sensitive
methods) would have to be converted to a negative since the pads
are what get etched away to make holes in the stencil.? Anyway
reversing the image and (toner) transferring the layout to the
piece(s) of stainless steel stock and then etching using the
hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide formula might work.? I
ended up just buying some of the Proto-Advantage stencils but at
$12 a pop for a tiny piece of thin stainless steel it adds up in a
hurry.
Thank you.
Jim Pruitt
WA7DUY
?
On 10/9/2021 8:00 AM, Steven Greenfield
AE7HD via groups.io wrote:
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If you can get your hands on an old pen plotter, you might be able
to put an inexpensive Roland vinyl cutter head into it. Inkscape
has offset drag compensation for at least some plotters.
Then you could try cutting solder paste stencils from mylar
sheets.
This might also work with one of those relatively inexpensive
laser diodes that are generally sold as add-ons to CNC machines.
They are quite a bit heavier than a pen, so a pen plotter would
likely need the acceleration and speed settings adjusted. Which is
part of using a laser diode, anyway.
--
Steven Greenfield AE7HD
