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Ovens are generally easier and are certainly more repeatable. But the cost is significant. I use a cheap hot air station for prototyping and get good results. It can be tricky to solder leadless compo …

If you the board is only two layers, and assuming you have clearance from other traces, you can drill out the plated-through holes. You'll have to make sure there is enough trace left to connect to, …

The other answers are excellent. In addition, it is common practice to put a feature in the solder paste layer that matches the fiducial's copper layer. This is to assist aligning the solder stencil o …

As others have said, you can use a sponge (or a paper towel) with 99% IPA ("rubbing alcohol", "isopropanol", etc.) to clean the flux off of your tweezers. I solder with an iron and wire solder, using …

I'm using the STM32F105, in a LQFP64 package. It has two circular markings, on opposing corners of the IC. This picture is for a different ST ARM, but the markings and silkscreen are similar: The …

Some pastes are thixotropic, which means that they soften up when subject to shear forces. In an assembly house, when the paste is applied by squeegee (through a stencil), this is enough to temporari …

I have a batch of new PCBs with ENIG (electroless nickel / immersion gold) surface finish. My assembly house has had two unsuccessful attempts at populating the boards. We're trying to troubleshoot th …

That's a lot of connection cycles! In that case, in addition to the plating, it is important to choose the correct pogo pins. A simple sharp point will eventually wear through the plating. The rounde …

There are any number of inexpensive "prototype" stencil manufacturers. I have used OSHStencils (in the USA) with good results. Their stencils only cost $0.65 (USD) per square inch, including shippin …

It looks like you have a hot-air gun. This should make the process fairly painless. (Unless you touch something hot, of course!) I would try to suspend the board to ensure the component isn't touchin …

Note the glue holding the components to the board, which is most obvious underneath U3. Considering this along with the prevalence of through-hole components, I believe the triangular openings in the …

With big through-hole parts, I attack one pin at a time with a solder sucker (or "solder pump"). I prefer this type because they're big and cheap! It can remove more solder per use than the smaller …

First, for these small apertures, a 3-mil stencil thickness would work better than the 5-mil. OSH Stencils offers both. The extra thickness adheres more to the solder, lifting it from the PCB. Also, e …

I'm sorry, but I can't see what you're referring to in the images. But, if I'm understanding correctly, the "bubbling" is visible on the bottom side underneath the reworked IC "U3"? If so, I expect …

There are really three levels of concern: Manufacturing (the blank PCBs), assembly (soldering components onto the board), and electrical (everything actually works as intended!). Manufacturing As …