Has anyone done any work on reverse engineering the file formats? Paying $60 to get the gerbers then another $50 for a conversion fee to get a stencil file...
Bill, I think you are missing the point. There is no reason to pay for gerber converions and whatever. You just draw your schematic, then pcb board using...
exactly ...so why not let the smalkl guys like ME make their own board and have the software print that layout correctly without the dots....we , guys who make...
vitaly, Have you every run a small business? One goal of ExpressPCB is, I'm sure, to "stay in business". And that means making a profit. They give away the...
Hello all, Just lurking in the dark here. Glad to hear the Express PCB seems to have satisfied customers out there. I've played with their software but have ...
Dennis, actually YOU are missing the point. ExpressPCB does not provide the gerber files necessary for a solder paste file. ExpressPCB does not provide a...
I've placed several orders with them, both prototype and a small production order. They've been fine to deal with and the quality of their product is good....
... Sounds like what we need to find is a source, similar to Express PCB, who provides these services specifically for surface mount chips. Has anyone used...
It's not hard to solder boards without a mask. ... From: expresspcb@yahoogroups.com [mailto:expresspcb@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of blown928 Sent: Monday,...
I used to make boards professionally. I made them a long time ago and registration wasn't really an issue. You just had to make sure all the holes were on...
Everything I do here is about 90% SMT. I just hand solder everything. I have escaped having to use high density chips so far (meaning legs per mm). You...
My two cents. I am an Engineer who uses ExpressPCB for home projects. At work we use production board houses for our prototypes. We don't get stencils made for...
It's not hard to solder together one SMT board with 0805 components and some so16 chips. If you're building a small lot or something with 0402's and 32 or 50...
Yes, I've hand soldered some and do small batches of high density stuff. The stencil makes life MUCH easier, but at a pretty hefty price the way things are...
Or to convince ExpressPCB to cater to SMT users a bit more. I do like their service, just wish they could help reduce the cost of the SMT stuff a bit. Seems...
... In my experience unless you're doing a BGA type part you don't use the solder paste stencils for just a prototype or two. They're typically used in...
I contacted ExpressPCB about this issue and here is what they said: ======================== Thank you for contacting ExpressPCB. I'm sorry but we do not...
Hello, This email message is a notification to let you know that a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the expresspcb group. File : /smt.zip ...
expresspcb@yahoogroup...
Mar 7, 2006 3:34 am
283
Yes, that's the same form letter I got. $30 for that one (or 2) gerber files (the solder mask layer(s)), or $60 for all the layers, then you have to have it...
The board loading house I work with said that they can mae the solder paste stencils from any bitmap. I have taken the ExpressPCB layout and removed all...
I would be seriously worried about registration with a bitmap. It can be done that way, but its really easy to get things off enough to make a mess of it. ...
What got my attention was the following phrase: "solder mask files from us which can be easily edited into solder paste files. " Note the word "edited" and...
The files are gerber data, a text file full of G and D codes. They use a gerber editor to edit the file, generally shrinking the size of the SM pads and...
Send me an email at blown928 at yahoo dot com and I'll shoot you over a sample file to look at if you're still interested, but like I said, just g & d codes....
Homemade smt soldering iron http://tinyurl.com/hfzj3 ... From: expresspcb@yahoogroups.com [mailto:expresspcb@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Dennis Hawkins Sent:...
I have problems with any legs thinner than a mm, but most of them I can do OK. I use a standard thermostatically controlled iron with a really fine tip. But...
Correction... Actually the stencil house likes the top copper layer better than the solder mask layer. The pads on the solder mask layer are a bit larger than...
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