SMD-How to guide?

[tribbles]

You can hand solder .05" pitch.

I hand-solder 0.5mm pitch (0.02") I wouldn't want to go any lower than that (and it does involve desoldering braid). It can be a bit hit-and-miss without the braid (mainly miss), but I did manage it once.

I use the same technique as the 0.05" pitch (2nd video above is really using the same technique as wave soldering), but then the braid cleans up the shorts that you inevitably get (wave soldering's only really good for 0.8mm and above).

If you do use the 2nd video link, then it does take a bit of guts to do it the first time (best to practice!), and it works really well if you have solder resist on your board (I don't, but it's still okay - especially with desolder braid to clear up the mess!).