[svon89]

I am a newbie looking to build a cnc machine, but have been trying to determine how difficult it would be to assemble the hobbycnc board myself. I can build anything out of wood, work on anything mechanical, but I deffinately had problems with my electrical engineering classes. I have to admit I am not sure about PCB soldering either.

How hard is it to determine placement on the boards? I have bad memories of schematics and determining the voltage across this and that.

Suggestions needed. I do not have a great deal of money to buy a prebuilt unit at this time, thus my serious consideration of this avenue.

Thank you

[rippersoft]

When I assembled my board, I had not soldered a PC board for several years. You follow the instructions and diagrams and there you go! If you are rusty on soldering, I would suggest practice.

RipperSoftware

[svon89]

It has been about 15 years since I soldered any electronics, so yes I am rusty, that is why I question my soldering. How were the diagrams to decipher? Did you have any trouble matching components to the diagrams?

Thanks
Stephen

[Halfnutz]

Dont worry about it. The intructions and support is great, nothing is ambiguous or unexplained. Nothing too small. You'l learn too. Its a great controller and powerfull too. Go for it!

[bkukowski]

you don't need any knowledge of ohm's law, any equations, any schematic reading etc. The instructions are as straight-forward and easy as possible. You don't even need to know how to read resistor color bands. It tells you which part to put where step by step.

I've built two of these kits and they go together flawlessly. If you purchase the complete kit (which I'd recommend, it includes fuses, power supply equipment, wire etc and instructions for all that) all you need to purchase separately is the transformer and case if you wish. You also need obvious supplies, ie rosin core 60/40 solder, wire cutters, and a 15-25w soldering iron, all of which you can get at radioshack. If you are still intimidated by the idea of soldering, I think dave (owner) offers to solder it for you for a fee. Otherwise you can find someone on the forum to do it for you. I have soldered a kit for someone else (they had it shipped to me) I did it all for $30.

[rippersoft]

All of the instructions are easy to follow. Very methodical approach to putting the parts on the board. The silkscreen on the board us a great help. Just follow the instructions and the silkscreen and you will do fine.

You might want to purchase, if you don't already have, a lighted magnifying glass with stand. Helps a great deal in seing small stuff.

Remember to stick with a soldering iron for PCB work and use a fine tip.

RipperSoftware

[DrStein99]

I just bought one. It was delivered in a couple days. A friend of mine with no electronics experience got curious and took apart the package and put the components in the board just by reading the simple instructions.

It took me about 2 hours to solder everything in. Another two hours to cut/solder/trim and mount cable harness assemblies for my motors; so that I could "plug" them in (like you would plug in a mouse, or a joystick).

If someone is offering $30 to solder the board for you; thats a fair price - given their experience in soldering, and the time of labor. It requires a moderaly steady hand.

Someone could probably make a business out of assembling the boards, making enclosures w/ a power-supply if they were looking for some real easy work, I'm sure.

[tintruder]

If you have any doubt about soldering, see www.ohmicron.com or www.cncresource.com.

Great products based upon the same chipset but updated to address issues users experienced with the HCNC boards.

Better customer service too. I'm a HobbyCNC customer and I know I will be buying either the ohmicron or the cncresource unit when I set up my mill. Too many bad experiences with HCNC.

Tom

[sirkut]

If you are a veteran solderer (is that even a word?!) it would take you about 30 minutes or so. I can't remember how long it too me last night but it was EASY. The instructions are clear and understandable and there is no room for confusion at all. If you are a novice, I'd venture it'd take maybe an hour or so.

[svon89]

I recieved the kit yesterday, it does appear very easy to assemble. I am going to practice my soldering before I do the board. I do not forsee any problems. I just have to make sure all of the solder joints are perfect. I am getting excited about this project, if I get the board done, I can bet I am going to be hot on getting the router done... We will see how long that takes.
Stephen

[bkukowski]

a few soldering tips:
-have a clean workspace
-clean the back of the board with warm water and mild soap, make sure you get all the soap off
-use thin electrical solder
-have a damp paper towel or sponge nearby to wipe clean the tip of the iron
-make sure the tip of the iron is tinned (shiny metal)
-double check component placement before soldering
-use a 25w soldering iron (make sure the tip is screwed in tight if it is a screw tip)
-heat solder pad and lead and apply the solder to what you're soldering, do not touch it to the tip of the iron
-let the solder flow over the connection
-do not hold the iron to ic's, capacitors, or plastic parts like jumpers or connector blocks too long. Heat can damage these or melt plastic.
-watch for solder bridges and cold solder joints

Good luck!

[sirkut]

With regards to the sponge/wet towel approach, I find that if you are using a cheap soldering iron, this drastic change in temperature only makes the tip's quality degrade in the long run. I've gone through too many radioshack soldering irons and tips than I can count using this method until I just bought a higher end soldering iron and started to use a tip cleaner that is nothing but copper shavings. Doesn't change the tip temperature any and you don't have to constantly wet it either. circuit specialists @ http://www.web-tronics.com/ have them in stock.

[bkukowski]

aah http://www.web-tronics.com/tipclwist4.html
I'll have to try one of those. I solder a ton, but have only ever used Radio Shack solering irons. I'll have to try a better one someday..

[sirkut]

That's the one. I did eventually upgrade to a nicer soldering station that has a digital temp readout where you can dial the desired temp. I'm still using the same tip and I've soldered more than I care to even count. I suppose nice solder will help from preventing that black residue from gathering on a tip. I always hated having to sand a tip.

[washingtondude]

If you're new to using printed circuit boards the critical thing is to get the first component on the correct side of the board (believe it or not some 30 years ago on my first pcb I didn't ). From there on it's a no brainer. Use a soldering iron with a pencil tip and thin gauge solder, no soldering guns here, the solder pads are too small and close together. Have courage and get to it. Regards, Mike