I've read blogs of a few hobbyists who use SMD/SMT components. I am at a loss for how these are soldered onto a board by the hobbyist.

Anyone here have experience to share or suggestions for further reading? My beloved DIPs seem to be on the same evolutionary path as the dinosours.

Are there hobby level reflow ovens on the market? Can I do this with a heat gun or a toaster oven?

 

I just hand solder the components. As long as you do not design with
components that are too small you should be fine.

What I do is (1) flux the pads of a small group of components, (2)
place solder on one pad of each component, (3) holding the component
with tweezers reflow the solder on the pad and (4) solder an opposing
pad and then the remainder of the component pads. It actually goes
fairly quickly. Make sure to use plenty of flux and clean up fine
pitch components with solderwick. You also need to periodically
(usually every hour) clean of the flux.

Pictures of some of the boards that I have done are at
http://www.luciani.org/works-in-progress/works-in-progress-index.html

One nice thing about SMT is the prices are low and they do not
take a lot of space to store. Pictures of my component
storage trays are at
http://www.luciani.org/no-place-to-go/no-place-to-go-index.html

Here is the equipment and supplies that I use ---

Equipment
---------
Metcal SP200-11 available new at www.hmcelectronics.com for apx. $240
SSC-754A tip 30deg bend, 0.02" tip
7A tweezers (curved tip)
Luxo illuminated magnifier
Needle nose pliers
Cutters

Solder
------
Kester 24-6337-6422 .015" diameter solder, SN63PB37, water soluble flux
Kester Flux Pen 2331-ZX
Solder Wick

Here are some links to hotplates and toaster ovens.

http://dlharmon.com/solder/smd.html
http://www.delorie.com/pcb/hotplate/
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/hdr.php?p=tutorials

(* jcl *)

 

Take a look at the attached tutorial and at the links below.

Surface mount soldering in an oven
A "how to" article about surfacemount soldering with a toaster oven.
http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/200006/oven_art.htm

Circuit Board Rework Guide
A set of tutorials on PCB assembly, repair and rework with videos (mov format). Section 7.0 "Soldering procedures" covers soldering of the surfacemount (SMT) components.
http://www.circuitrework.com/guides/guides.shtml

I also have a "SMT Soldering Handbok". It's very thorought, but it's 3MB and I can't attach it. You can download it from my yahoo group http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/OrCADexchange. Once you join, go to "Standards, Guidelines, Tutorials, Troubleshooting" folder in the Files section.

 

Thank you, gentlemen! I'll be sure to pick up some of the solder paste next time I'm at Norvac.