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Laser cut Mylar stencils are an acceptable method of applying solder to pads if you have the means. And solder paste syringes are pricy but very, very handy if you need a little extra paste somewhere specific. Great little project! It’s been an age since I hand assembled anything like this. Makes me wish I was tooled up for more than just soldering headers.

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Hey Phil, glad you like it. I'm just being a cheapskate with the $7 JLCPCB charges for stencils. I keep making dumb mistakes on my PCBs, so I skip the stencil and assembly to save cost.

Mylar? Most stencils I've seen are stainless steel. PCB shops will usually sell you stencils along with the board as an add-on. ($20-ish)

Yeah, they are very definitely not production grade! But we had laser cutters, mylar sheets, pots of solder paste, questionable quality spatulas and way too many different prototype PCBs. A means to an end.

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