[Elecraft] SMT kits and Elecraft

[Peter Burbank]

At 04:20 PM 8/11/2004, Stuart Rohre wrote:
>Yes,
>I think we can do simple kits with 1206 parts with home hand tools and
>possibly a hold down fixture home made.   In fact, that would be a great
>"kit", a set of SMT sized tools:  Needle Nose pliers, light spring tweezer,
>hold down device that would sit on desk and exert weight on a 1206 component
>as you soldered it, Maybe a Spudgeon tool, or dental wide tip blade to apply
>flux to hold 1206 as a "glue" until soldered, a roll of 0.01 low melting
>point solder, and list of suggested fine tip irons, and desk magnifiers that
>a ham could locally procure.

Snip
That's a great idea Stuart. For me, the hold down fixture wood be crucial 
and a good design welcome.
The mention of hold down fluxes left me with an uneasy feeling in that most 
fluxes are a bit active
and I would be concerned about the state of the flux after soldering. I 
have visions of an active flux
residue progressing as a corrosive agent over time unless it could be 
completely cleaned out after
soldering. A glue type holding agent might carbonize with the soldering 
heat. Has industry settled
on a flux that addresses these issues?
73
Pete NV4V