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Self assembling circuit boards is the cheapest way to get components on circuit boards.

自组装电路板是在电路板上安装组件的最便宜方法。

Period.

期。

Don’t believe me? Believe these screenshots:

不相信我吗 相信这些截图：

Self assembled: $143.84 + Tax & Shipping

自组装： $ 143.84 +税和运费

Professionally assembled: $362.83 + Tax & Shipping

专业组装： 362.83美元+税费和运费

That’s about $50 per board versus  $120 per board. That’s huge. Plus 18 days is a long time to wait for three circuit boards.

每块板大约是50美元，而每块板是120美元。 好大 再加上18天的时间很长，要等待三个电路板。

In this post, I’m going to to talk about the biggest tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years on how to assemble my own circuit boards.  I have no doubt they’ll be immediately useful for your current and future projects.

在这篇文章中，我将讨论多年来我在组装自己的电路板方面学到的最大技巧。 毫无疑问，它们将立即对您当前和将来的项目有用。

So, to start with let’s talk about CAD.

因此，首先让我们谈谈CAD。

导出您的CAD (Export Your CAD)

The golden standard for the industry is the Gerber file. Gerber files are the  translation of all the pretty shapes, traces, pads, silkscreen and drills into something useful for a board fabricator.  There are other formats out there like ODB++. If you’ve ever looked inside an ODB++ file though, it’s just a bunch of Gerbers packaged up. ?‍♂️

该行业的黄金标准是Gerber文件。 Gerber文件是所有漂亮的形状，迹线，垫，丝网印刷物的翻译，并钻入了对板制造商有用的东西。 还有其他格式，例如ODB ++。 但是，如果您曾经查看过ODB ++文件的内部，那么它只是打包的一堆Gerbers。 ♂️

If you’re interested in learning more about Gerbers and my process of checking them, go watch this video and then come back. No worries, I’ll be right here.

如果您想了解更多关于Gerbers以及我检查它们的过程的信息， 请观看此视频 ，然后再回来。 不用担心，我会在这里。

Fortunately, most vendors will take the raw CAD files especially if you use something like Eagle CAD. For instance, when I go to purchase a circuit board on OSH Park, I’ll upload my .brd file. In most cases, it gets promptly processed, and spits a price back.

幸运的是，大多数供应商都会采用原始​​CAD文件，尤其是如果您使用的是Eagle CAD之类的文件。 例如，当我去OSH Park购买电路板时，我将上传.brd文件。 在大多数情况下，它会得到及时处理，并吐出价格。

These same files can also be used for the purchase of a solder paste stencil. Solder paste stencils allow you to applicate solder paste only to the openings in the solder mask on your circuit board. Yes, you can assemble a circuitboard without using solder paste or a solder stencil but I highly recommend it especially if you care about the aesthetics of your board.

这些相同的文件也可以用于购买焊膏模具。 锡膏模具可以使您仅将锡膏涂抹到电路板上阻焊剂的开口上。 是的，您可以在不使用焊膏或焊锡模板的情况下组装电路板，但我强烈建议您特别在考虑电路板的美观性的情况下使用它。

A side note about aesthetics: I recommend for early prototypes to include reference designators that can be visible when the board is fully assembled. It makes hand placement of parts 1000 times easier. See what I’m talking about below:

关于美学的旁注：我建议早期的原型包含参考标记，这些参考标记在电路板完全组装好后可以看见。 它使零件的手动放置变得容易1000倍。 看看下面我在说什么：

See all the reference designators in white? They’ll come in handy very soon..

看到所有白色的参考标记吗？ 他们很快就会派上用场..

For stencils, my go-to is OSH Stencils. Their cost is reasonable and saves a ton of time when assembly is underway. Plus, as you may have guessed, circuit board assembly lines use large metal stencils to accomplish the same thing.

对于模板，我最喜欢的是OSH模板 。 它们的成本是合理的，并且在组装过程中可以节省大量时间。 另外，您可能已经猜到了，电路板装配线使用大型金属模板来完成相同的任务。

Finally, you want to export your bill of materials. I use the bom.ulp script that comes with Eagle. I always export by value so all the parts of the same attributes get binned together. This results in a clean and compact BOM that can be easily imported into something like Octopart. I often use Octopart to research prices. If it’s a particularly large bill of materials, I may split orders between say Mouser and Digikey. Sometimes even Arrow has parts for dollars less than the other two.

最后，您要导出物料清单。 我使用Eagle随附的bom.ulp脚本。 我总是按值导出，因此相同属性的所有部分都合并在一起。 这样便产生了干净紧凑的BOM，可以轻松将其导入到Octopart之类的文件中。 我经常使用Octopart来研究价格。 如果物料清单特别大，我可以在Mouser和Digikey之间分配订单。 有时，甚至Arrow的零件价格也比其他两个零件少。

When ordering, all vendors allow you to import a .xlsx file or .csv. When importing, sometimes you get choice of putting in a customer part number (or similar). You can use this to store the reference designator. That will get printed out onto the label that they stick to the bag.

订购时，所有供应商都允许您导入.xlsx文件或.csv 。 导入时，有时您可以选择输入客户部件号(或类似编号)。 您可以使用它来存储参考标记。 这将被打印在粘贴在袋子上的标签上。

As long as your parts are not too heavy you can typically use the First Class mail option that Digikey offers. It looks like they have recently raised their shipping prices (used to be $3.5 now it’s ~$4.5 to Connecticut) Parts usually arrive within 2-3 business days. Which is not to bad! ??

只要您的零件不太重，通常就可以使用Digikey提供的“头等邮件”选项。 看来他们最近提高了运输价格(以前是$ 3.5，现在到康涅狄格州约为$ 4.5)，零件通常在2-3个工作日内到达。 哪个还不错！ ??

Pro tip: Once you get the parts, double check your inventory. I’ve made the mistake of not ordering enough parts for multiple assemblies. If you do find yourself short, just make another order. If you don’t you could be unpleasantly surprised when build day comes and your short components.

专家提示：收到零件后，请仔细检查库存。 我犯了一个错误，即没有为多个装配订购足够的零件。 如果您发现自己很矮，请再下一个订单。 如果您不这样做，当构建日到来时，您可能会感到惊讶，并且您的组件短。

将零件放在板上 (Placing Parts On Your Board)

Set up your assembly location. Use the plastic cutouts and place them around your circuit board. Then tape them down as a permanent frame to your desktop. You can make them yourself by using a service like Ponoko or just buy the ones that OSH Stencils offers.

设置您的组装位置。 使用塑料切口并将它们放在电路板上。 然后将它们作为永久框架粘贴到桌面上。 您可以使用Ponoko等服务自己制作，也可以购买OSH Stencils提供的服务。

Then, tape the stencil over the top aligning all the holes. This takes some time and finesse. Make sure you tape it down so it doesn’t move.

然后，将模板粘贴在顶部，使所有Kong对齐。 这需要一些时间和技巧。 确保将其粘贴下来，使其不会移动。

Place the stencil flat on the board. Then, take your solder syringe and glob some solder across the top of the stencil. Use an old credit card or the plastic card that comes with a stencil to spread the solder. Try to spread away from where the stencil is attached to your work surface. Otherwise if you move the stencil you’ll make a mess and have to start over.

将模板平放在板上。 然后，拿起您的焊料注射器，将一些焊料散布在模板的顶部。 使用旧的信用卡或带有模板的塑料卡散布焊料。 尝试从模板附着到工作表面的位置散开。 否则，如果您移动模具，将会使您一团糟，并且必须重新开始。

Once the paste is down, like the picture above, place the board on a flat surface. There is nothing to hold the parts on the board so it’s best to place it on a larger unpopulated circuit board. That way you have a movable base and there is less risk of destroying your hard work. Plus it protects the surface underneath once you get to the next step.

粘贴完后，如上图所示，将电路板放在平坦的表面上。 没有任何东西可以将零件固定在板上，因此最好将其放在更大的未组装电路板上。 这样，您就可以拥有一个可移动的基座，并且减少了破坏您的辛勤工作的风险。 另外，一旦您进入下一步，它就可以保护下面的表面。

Remember, use the reference designators on the circuit board and compare with the reference designator on the packaging of your parts. As long as you exported your BOM correctly there’s no reason to go back and check part numbers. See an example of packaging with the reference designator below:

请记住，使用电路板上的参考标记，并与零件包装上的参考标记进行比较。 只要您正确导出BOM表，就没有理由返回并检查零件编号。 请参阅下面带有参考标记的包装示例：

Finally, bake your circuit board. I typically using my hot air gun at about 380°C and slowly go around the whole board soldering all the parts.  My airflow is set to very low when I do this otherwise the parts go flying. This applies to any hot air gun setup.

最后，烘烤电路板。 我通常在约380°C的温度下使用热风枪，然后慢慢地在整个电路板上焊接所有部件。 这样做时，我的气流设置得很低，否则零件会飞扬。 这适用于任何热风枪设置。

This also can be accomplished by using a hot plate or old toaster oven. Remember, you do not want to use the same oven that you use to toast your toast!

这也可以通过使用热板或旧式烤箱来完成。 请记住，您不想使用与烤面包相同的烤箱！

Extra precaution: some salty engineers out there think there’s nothing wrong with breathing in fumes from soldering. I’m very much so in the opposite camp. Not only are you handling heavy metals (less of an issue with lead free solder) one way or another but the fumes from the solder flux are noxious. Best way to fix this is to run a fan out the window or use a fume extractor.

额外的预防措施：那里的一些咸工程师认为呼吸焊接产生的烟雾没有问题。 我在对面的营地非常满意。 您不仅以一种或另一种方式处理重金属(无铅焊料的问题很少)，而且焊剂中产生的烟雾有害。 解决此问题的最佳方法是将风扇扇出窗户或使用排烟装置。

玩耍的时间到啦 (Time to Play)

So you’ve ordered all your parts, stencils and boards. You’ve patiently and dutifully assembled and soldered all the components. Congrats, you’ve made it to the big times! Next stop is testing, firmware development or whatever else you need to do with your design.

因此，您已经订购了所有零件，模板和电路板。 您已经耐心地，忠实地组装并焊接了所有组件。 恭喜，您已经成功了！ 下一站是测试，固件开发或您需要对设计进行的其他任何操作 。

Also, to be fair, I actually have nothing against companies like Macrofab. They provide a great service and I’ve actually used them before for other projects. Just remind yourself of the cost/time benefit of someone else doing the work for you. Is it worth it? Only you can decide.

而且，说句公道话，我实际上没有反对Macrofab这样的公司。 它们提供了很好的服务，实际上我以前在其他项目中使用过它们。 只是提醒自己，别人为您工作的成本/时间收益。 这值得么？ 只有您可以决定。

Building your own circuit board on the cheep no only saves money but it’s rewarding when it’s all done. When building new devices and prototypes for my clients, I always keep this process as an option. It allows me to get a better idea of how a circuit may work before ever having to plunk down a ton of cash for a machine assembled board.

在廉价状态下构建自己的电路板不仅可以节省金钱，而且在完成这些工作时也会有所收获。 在为客户构建新设备和原型时，我始终将这一过程作为选择。 它使我可以更好地了解电路如何工作，而不必为机器组装的电路板投入大量现金。

Looking for some help on your project? Got to the bottom of this page and send me a line.

在您的项目上寻求帮助吗？ 转到此页面的底部，并给我发送了一行。

You can also check out my other articles on my blog at www.jaredwolff.com.

您也可以在www.jaredwolff.com的博客上查看其他文章。

翻译自: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-save-money-and-assemble-your-own-circuit-boards/

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