I spoke with Shane at Howard Electronics about what we might like to set up an electronics prototyping setup. He said that the stencil and oven approach will probably be more trouble than we want. Instead he recommended direct soldering.
Specifically, he recommended the JBC Tools Dual Soldering Station DI3000TP. He said the tweezer grips are excellent for placing the small resistors. For the chips, he recommended using a drag solder technique. The system is $995.
He also said that a video monitor will make it much easier to get reliable results. He recommended the HEI-VM-LCD system — an 8″ display would probably be fine. That $2400. We’d need a stand, so perhaps the HEI-VM-BS for $2740.
The whole assembly kit would be about $3700.
