I make and sell low voltage, mostly digital, retrocomputing expansion boards as a hobby/hustle. I use all through-hole components partly because of the retro aesthetic and partly because I find soldering through-hole relaxing and fun to do.
I'm selling enough boards now that I'm feeling like my assembly and soldering process should be optimized. One of the boards has about 30 components on it and if I'm making 10 of them, it can take up a whole Saturday afternoon.
Currently I place a part, flip the board in my hand while holding the part, tack one of its pins with the iron while making sure the part is fully inserted and aligned if necessary, lay the board down and solder the rest of the pins, then move on to the next part. I am pretty sure this isn't the best way to do this.
Do you have any tips or tool recommendations to help me optimize my board assembly / through-hole soldering process?
Thanks!
Best Answer
Insert all the components of the same height. Maybe you have a holder to hold the board steady and off the bench. Put a piece of material (wood, heavy cardboard, foamcore) on the top of the board and flip it. Solder all the parts in and trim the leads. Repeat for taller parts.
If you have a 3D printer or a milling machine you can easily make a jig that will hold all the parts in one go. It helps to have the leads bent so that they don't slop around too much.
For parts that need to be located very accurately for functional or aesthetic reasons (for example, LEDs or terminal blocks), a more precise jig may be beneficial.
If your boards are reasonably small, you can save a lot of work by panelizing them in the design stage. The reduction in handling makes a significant difference. Even having a small number such as 4 in an array helps. Try to keep them together as long as possible, even as far as testing. You will pay more for the boards but everything else is cheaper.