Mylar Reflow Stencils
- Project Type
- Laser Cutting, Electronics
- Year
- 2025
An in-house process for cutting solder paste stencils on a laser cutter. It produces precise, fine-pitch SMD stencils quickly and at very low cost.
01
Fast stencils made in-house
Solder paste stencils let you put down neat, even paste on a board full of tiny surface mount pads before it goes into reflow. I wanted a fast, reliable way to make them myself, so I worked out an in-house process for cutting them from Mylar on a laser cutter.
It produces precise, fine-pitch SMD stencils with sub-millimeter accuracy, and each one takes about ten minutes and less than ten cents to make.
02
Cheap and laser cuttable
I cut the stencils from Mylar because it’s cheap and the laser cuts it cleanly. That’s what keeps each stencil under ten cents, and because they’re made in-house, I don’t wait on an order before a board can go into reflow.