4 years ago on Step 10

Glorious tutorial man. So how about sending me a complete board? You would be helping out a fellow Maker who's teenage daughters are breaking him financially...no worries though. Great instructable.

SimonH36

5 years ago

The first Instructable which has inspired me to make something, thanks :) I ordered some PCB's from a low-cost supplier, and they've arrived! Now to order the parts and start assembling. I may try to modify the design to use tri-colour LED's later.

Note to others - there is no need to use solder paste and an oven for soldering SMT components; Thin solder and a fine soldering tip is all that is required (and a magnifier if you're over 40 like me)

Alexisgm97

Reply 5 years ago

Hi! What low cost PCB supplier did you find? Share it with us please!

SimonH36

Reply 5 years ago

Hi,
I used "pcbgogo" - USD12 approx for 10 PCB's shipped to UK!
Alas, I haven't purchased the parts yet though.

faisyl

5 years ago

Thanks for the great instructable!

I had some questions about the build and BOM. I got the PCBs and used the published BOM. On the PCB, there's an extra LED, Q2 and resistors R13 and R14, neither of which are on the BOM. Also C3 is larger than the PCB pads. C3 can probably be fixe by hand. Not sure what to do about the missing components tho. This is my first SMD build and I want to get it right.

Ben-DIY

5 years ago

Dude, this is awesome.

First I thought "Hey, cool headline, let's check". Then I saw the beginning of the video and I was "oh, he just assembles something he bought" and in the I was "wow, he created everything, designed the pbc and the body and let it been manufactured on an industry quality". Super awesome! Most of the time you see bread boards or prototype pcb here. This would obviously not work in such a small scale. Sadly I can't solder smd. I don't have the tools, so my circuits are always on normal, homemade pcb. Btw: nice set of tools I can see in the background ;-)

Anyway: nice work, I like it 120%. You have a new follower ;-)

MakersBox

Reply 5 years ago

I was a bit intimidated by doing SMD at as well at first. I've got an Instructable project if you want to try just the very basics: https://www.instructables.com/id/I-Can-Surface-Mount-Solder/

seanhodgins

Reply 5 years ago

You can absolutely do SMD components. I know you can. I use a $20 "toaster oven", but I would recommend spending another $20 and get one with convection.

If you can hand solder, you're just a tube of solder paste and a toaster oven away from making the jump. I would even say its actually easier than TH. You will be absolutely surprised when you try how easy it is. Its very hard to hurt the components/board.

I've been making SMD boards for a few years now, those cool tools you see? I only got them a few months ago. Before that I pretty much just had a multi-meter(and occasionally steal some time with my works oscilloscope for trouble shooting) and a good soldering iron. Having a good soldering iron helps you fix any problems with the components after reflowing, a cheap hot air station makes things even easier for fixing and would be a good purchase as well. Some things are hard to fix without it. I don't need to use it very often though.

Ben-DIY

Reply 5 years ago

Thanks for your nice words and you trust in my skills! To be honest, I never made any researches on how to solder smd. So from your video it looks like:
a) put some solder paste
b) place components
c) put it in the over (for some time at some temperature ^^)
d) solder the other parts the "conventional way"

Is it really that easy? What time and temperature do you recommend? Regarding convection: couldn't you build a metal fan and add it to your oven by yourself? DIY-style ^^

From tool side I have a upper-medium class soldering iron from Ersa. I could need a good regulated one, but mine has a good temperature for pcb soldering and I have several exchangeable tips. But if it will break one day (already several years old and still good) or I can give it to my kids. I also have a cheap logic analyser and an atmel debugger which is super helpful. I still miss an digital oscilloscope. You have a Rigol, right? DS1104Z, right? It looks like one. How much was it? 600USD? Quite some money... But I really need something similar sooner or later :-) time to save some money ^^

But first I will check to get into smd soldering. One last question: where do you order your pcb? I know pcbway.com, they are quite cheap (5€ for 10 pc of 100x100mm) but have some shipping costs (up to 5 times pcb costs) to Germany.

seanhodgins

Reply 5 years ago

Its really that easy. The hardest part is not putting too much solder paste, which if you do will need to be removed by a soldering iron after.

Temperature, my oven is set to its highest setting "240C/450F". It doesn't actually hit that temperature. I turn it on and just watch the boards, after they have all flowed, I wait a few seconds, shut it off, and pull the tray out to let them cool. I normally have a computer fan blowing on them to cool a little faster. I could put a metal fan in, but it wouldn't be worth the hassle and the cost of the fan, since so many models have them for a little bit more money.

Yeah I recently purchase the Rigol, its only $400 US actually. https://www.amazon.com/Rigol-DS1054Z-Digital-Oscil... quite a good deal and if you feel like it, can easily make it 100mHz.

I order my PCBs normally from PCBway.com - They're so fast and good quality that its worth the shipping. I normally pay about $5-10 for the boards, and $20-30 for the shipping. Just the way it goes! If you have a few projects on the go at the same time, then you can lump the shipping together. That is what I normally do.

seanhodgins

Reply 5 years ago

Its really that easy. The hardest part is not putting too much solder paste, which if you do will need to be removed by a soldering iron after.

Temperature, my oven is set to its highest setting "240C/450F". It doesn't actually hit that temperature. I turn it on and just watch the boards, after they have all flowed, I wait a few seconds, shut it off, and pull the tray out to let them cool. I normally have a computer fan blowing on them to cool a little faster. I could put a metal fan in, but it wouldn't be worth the hassle and the cost of the fan, since so many models have them for a little bit more money.

Yeah I recently purchase the Rigol, its only $400 US actually. https://www.amazon.com/Rigol-DS1054Z-Digital-Oscil... quite a good deal and if you feel like it, can easily make it 100mHz.

I order my PCBs normally from PCBway.com - They're so fast and good quality that its worth the shipping. I normally pay about $5-10 for the boards, and $20-30 for the shipping. Just the way it goes! If you have a few projects on the go at the same time, then you can lump the shipping together. That is what I normally do.

ringmasterow

5 years ago

This is a great project! How do I make use of the board files you have provided? Where did you print your board? How can it be cut to shape? Too many questions! I'm happy to go through the process of building it all myself, but I have no idea where to start. Can you provide some hints/directions? Thanks!

seanhodgins

Reply 5 years ago

The files are meant to be opened in KiCad if you want to change things, the Gerb files/zip file can be uploaded to a place called PCBWay or OSHPark who will make your boards. The board files include an "board edge" file so it will be cut out the way you see in the video.

If you want to start by trying to make a working board, order a few of the boards, get the components, and start there. Its a bit of a learning curve if you have never soldered(or surface mount soldered) before, but we all start somewhere.

1

bratan

5 years ago

Great job man! I made my some time in February, but never figured out how to get sync it with magnets and hall effect sensors. Sorry you not the first to make POV spinner, but there were some guys before me as well :) Forget about Kickstarter, there were bunch of similar projects that never got funded :( Appreciate open source!