thoughts on hot air soldering for SMD?

[etoyoc]

I have always hand soldered anything that I made.  However, I will freely admit, that being self-taught when I was a kid, I picked up bad soldering techniques and habits that are now ingrained and cause my work to look rather cruddy .  I was able to get by for years, but now that I am starting to build more SMD kits, my lack of proper soldering skills coupled with non-steady hands is working against me.  I am tired of trying to clean bridges and not fry chips.  I must need more coffee.


So, what are the thoughts of the gestalt on using hot air soldering techniques.  I have never tried this and the youtube videos I watched have the too good to be true feel to them.

[BeeAmaker]

It is very difficult to hot air solder. Hot air is best suited for re-work or chip removal. Mainly because the hot air blows the parts off the board if you are not pointed straight down. If you have unsteady hands, then you might consider pasting the board, placing components then use a toaster oven or hotplate to solder.

I SMD solder all the time, I can give you a crash course and some pointers at our next meeting if you like.

[etoyoc]

Sounds good, I will take you up on that offer once we get our current project worked out. Hopefully, just a few code tweaks and it will be working and I can work on some SMD boards this month before our rocket season begins.

I hate GPS chips... Hope RF Radio chips aren't that fun either. But the Maestro Wireless A2235H GPS module kicked my but.