[CHP] State of the Boards

General
1

I received one of my shipments from Seeed Studios on Tuesday, which
means the boards will probably be in over the next few days, maybe
even before the next meeting. (crosses fingers) That said, I need
solder paste, and I am looking for donations to assist with it, as I'm
into the project for about 160 dollars at the moment, and dropping
another 50 on paste may cause epileptic fits from my wife's
direction.

What I require is http://www.zeph.com/zephpaste.htm . We need a tube
or two, and dispensing needles, as well as a plunger. Bare minimum
cost would be about 35 dollars, including shipping. Shipping is very
expensive, as it's 2-3 day ship with ice packs (About 17 dollars for
the cheapest option). Best scenario would be to buy two tubes of
paste, a better plunger, a needle assortment, and a plunger 'rack' to
hold the paste in the fridge when we get it. That cost is about 110
dollars, and would be the 'cadillac' version of this shopping trip.

So, I'm looking for money. Any help from the CNC crew, or anyone else
who wants to help? Worst case scenario is that I'll bite the bullet
and buy the cheapest option out of my own money again, but things are
starting to get tight.

-James

2

Dave could you start a pledgie for this for $110 and post the link plz.

--Craig

3

Will do.

If we're going to be raising the money from pledges, is there any
reason not to ask for enough money to buy RoHS compliant or lead-free
paste? How much more would it cost?

~Dave

4

Here is the pledgie link:

http://pledgie.com/campaigns/7523

~Dave

5

Pledgie is complete. I'll be ordering this stuff ASAP. Thanks to
everyone who donated.

6

The RoHS compliant/lead free is 4 dollars a tube more expensive. The
problem isn't the price, though... it's the higher melting point. This
paste will melt below 400F, which is what we need for this reflow
operation.