Page 180 - Make Your Own PCBs with EAGLE from Schematic Designs to Finished Boards

pads, and then bake the entire board in an oven to melt the solder paste and attach the components.
We will see how to do this in a later section.

Commercial reflow ovens are quite expensive, but many people make their own using low-cost
toaster ovens, such as the modified device of the author’s shown in Figure 7-11.

FIGURE 7-11 Modified toaster oven.

WARNING These types of toaster ovens are often called “fire starters” for good reason. They are
very simple designs, with little in the way of thermal insulation. This means that they get very

hot, and if you modify them, they can become even more dangerous. If you decide to make one
of these, never leave it unattended or anywhere near anything that could burn.

The model shown in Figure 7-11 has been modified to replace the thermostat with a proportional
power control module, and a digital thermometer has been added to allow the necessary accurate
monitoring and control of temperature.

Soldering Through-Hole PCBs