I do not see why a small pick and place assist system could not be built on a 3-d printer. Don
> On Jun 24, 2016, at 8:32 AM, Attila Kinali <att...@kinali.ch> wrote: > > On Thu, 23 Jun 2016 20:16:34 -0500 > Oz-in-DFW <li...@ozindfw.net> 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 -- time-nuts@febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas. Lucky is he who has been able to understand the causes of things. Virgil ------------------------------- "Noli sinere nothos te opprimere" Dr. Don Latham, AJ7LL Six Mile Systems LLC, 17850 Six Mile Road Huson, MT, 59846 mailing address: POBox 404 Frenchtown MT 59834-0404 VOX 406-626-4304 CEL 406-241-5093 Skype: buffler2 www.lightningforensics.com <http://www.lightningforensics.com/> www.sixmilesystems.com <http://www.sixmilesystems.com/> _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
