Neoden High Precision Manual Solder Paste Printer  Pm3040 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: derethor
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 12:39:40 pm
content: Hello,I never used stencils before. I am thinking to buy this solder paste printer.What are your opinions? I guess that stencils are standard size or something? Do I need to order special holes for alignment, etc? Can I order stencils to any stencil manufacturer?Any help about this would be really appreciated...Have a nice day.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 03:34:10 pm
content: That needs framed stencils, which are more expensive. What you ideally want is something that can clamp and tension cheaper unframed stainless and plastic stencils.The Eurocircuits one is pretty good but IMO ary over-engineered and expensive. It only needs a couple of tooling holes in the stencil, which aligns with holes at the edge of the PCB.http://www.eurocircuits.com/ec-equipment-ec-stencil-mate

author: IconicPCB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2016, 12:41:42 pm
content: What might the price of this euro circuits frame-less printer be?

author: Koen
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2016, 01:07:51 pm
content: Hello, if it's for your own low frequency use you can simply add two holes in the technical border of the PCBs, the same holes in the frameless stencil and align both with two endmills. It's cheap and perfectly indexed.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2016, 02:14:36 pm
content: Quote from: IconicPCB on January 16, 2016, 12:41:42 pm1495 Euro - like I said, over-engineered and expensive, but does work well

author: derethor
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 18, 2016, 10:44:40 am
content: NiceWhat are the advantages of framed stencils vs frameless? only price?For frameless stencil, what do you think of the olimex one:https://www.olimex.com/Products/Tools/StencilPrinters/SD-240-Stencil-Printer/Have a nice day

author: IconicPCB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2016, 11:21:46 am
content: I have the larger variant of this type of printer.I use 0.1mm stainless steel sheet as well as 0.2mm copper clad FR4 core material.FR4 is for those coarser jobs and i cut them myself. Stainless steel is outside my current capabilities however i hope to have the laser cutter going shortly.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2016, 01:27:18 pm
content: Quote from: derethor on January 18, 2016, 10:44:40 amIn a production environment where a stencil will be remounted and used many times, a framed one is proably prefereable, otherwise it's down to cost - not just the cost of framing, but not being able to put multiple stencils on one sheet and cut them out to make seperate ones.

author: derethor
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 18, 2016, 03:46:39 pm
content: Thank you for your comments!what is a normal price for a frame stencil? they use an standard size?

author: DerekG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2016, 01:17:53 am
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on January 18, 2016, 01:27:18 pmThe problem of space arises for SMD production shops. Having 5000 frames sitting around becomes a major problem.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2016, 09:19:44 am
content: Quote from: DerekG on January 19, 2016, 01:17:53 amThere are some commercial printers that use patterns of holes on unframed stencils to automatically tension them.Commercial printers also tend to use a single large fixed size, whereas for low-volumes you want something that can use smaller, cheaper stencils

author: janekm
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 19, 2016, 09:52:28 am
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on January 15, 2016, 03:34:10 pmWell, the framed stencils are very cheap (I just had one made for about £7, though "not production quality", as the shop made sure I understood... not electro/chemical polished, I think), but shipping outside of China is a hassle since they're bulkyStill I think framed stencils are just much less hassle, you get decent printers like the one you posted for not too much money. They're ubiquitous in China.Saying that, before you invest a lot of money in a stencil printer you might like to try just using a stencil without a fancy printer... in most cases that works fine. The prototype assembly workshop I use has a fancy stencil printer but doesn't seem to use it most of the time (too much hassle to set up, I suppose). Of course if you're doing some .4mm BGA or something you may need the precision.