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Have you already made the circuit on a breadboard? If so, learning KiCAD and building the board from scratch would take around a week of afternoons.

I really recommend it, designing PCBs is very enjoyable (at least to me).



If you are comfortable prototyping on a breadboard it shouldn't take long to produce the layout in KiCAD or a similar EDA tool.

Then you can order your PCB at a local shop, manufacture it yourself (with toner transfer, a CNC at a hackerspace, etc) provided the traces aren't too thin and there are not too many layers (1 is easy, 2 is standard and cheap, more layers are expensive), or order it from china at a relatively low price (jlpcb or seedstudio will average something like $1/apiece).


Thank you for mentioning KiCAD, these are the kind of keywords that will help me get started :D

PS: And yes, while I really suck at soldering, working with physical products feels like a nice counter weight to the software world.


KiCAD is amazing, and it's all you'll need (apart from the prototype on the breadboard).

The trick to soldering is really to get a good iron, I underestimated it at the start but you really need something that keeps heat. Get a TS100 and set it to 320, soldering is going to be a breeze afterwards.

Remember, solder should flow easily and stick to the pads/wires, if it doesn't, it means you need to heat the thing up a bit more.


I my iron shoes 400 degrees in the display but somehow the pads/wires don’t heat enough to melt the solder.

It’s really weird. Maybe I messed up the tip somehow? But I just got it a few days ago!


Which iron is it? Maybe it's miscalibrated? Does the solder melt if you touch it to the tip?


It melts. But only at high temperatures above 300. Even though the soldier is supposed to melt at 219.

The iron is a LONOVE 925 m.


Maybe I need to try tinning the tip again.


Yeah, sounds like it. Make sure the tip is tinned when touching the pads so heat transfer can occur more effectively.


I’ll need to watch some videos. I tried running but the solder always drips off the tip and doesn’t stick ️


Hmm, sounds like you need more heat, hot solder likes to run up metal surfaces and stick well.


How would I work with SMD components on a breadboard?


Either breakout boards or you use the through-hole versions.


If you're confident in your design, you can send it off for assembly at a manufacturer that does PCBA. They'll handle the SMD soldering for you.


Breakout boards, I assume.




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