Electronics Tips: Surface Mount Soldering by Hand

My tools for easy surface mount soldering:

• Reading Glasses - Helps seeing the small components up close
• Soldering Vise - Something steady to hold the board so you can use both hands with the small parts
• Fine Silver Solder - Surface mount components don't need a lot of solder, a fine thread helps keep the volume of solder small
• Good Tweezers - Placement of the components requires a small gripper
• Liquid Rosin Flux - Sticky flux helps hold the component down while also helping the solder adhere to all soldering surfaces
• Spaghetti Noodle - Dipped quickly in the flux it provides a accurate tool to apply a small amount of flux to the board where needed (its cheep and disposable).

My tips for easy surface mount soldering:

• Use large Surface Mount Components if possible. Even the larger sizes are pretty small and this makes them easier to handle by hand tools.
• Hold the board in the vise as flat as possible to minimize slipping due to slope.
• Use the spaghetti to apply the flux to the board for each solder pad for each component. A little flux goes a long way. A little between the pads helps keep the part from moving around until you make the first solder.
• The first solder of each component is most important as it will hold the part for all others, so take time and it get this first one right.