PCB Stencil – Solder Paste Stencil Manufacturer UK

PCB Stencil is the process of depositing solder paste on the printed wiring boards (PWBs) to establish electrical connections and mechanical strength. It is immediately followed by the component placement stage.

Using a PCB Stencil to apply solder paste makes the PCB Assembly process faster. It also makes it easier to apply solder paste accurately.

Based on mounting style and aperture type PCB stencils are classified into the following types:

Laser Cut Stencil – Laser-cut PCB

Laser Cut Stencils (Solder Paste Stencils) are used to print the right amount of solder paste onto the soldering pads of PCB for SMT electronic circuit board assembly. All solder paste stencils from BOM to PCB are manufactured with laser technology.

BOM to PCB’s laser-cut solder paste stencil service is suitable for anyone assembling surface-mounted components and needs to screenprint solder paste onto PCBs. The use of laser technology allows having tighter tolerances and greater accuracy.

This low-cost service gives you an opportunity to avoid additional repeated royalty and license fees by using a non-proprietary Zelflex frame tension system.

Chemical-etch stencils

The openings on the PCB Stencil are etched into metal using acid. Chemical milling etches metal masks and flexible metal mask stencils from both sides. Chemical etching offers high manufacturing speed at low cost but doesn’t protect the environment against harmful chemicals.

Framed PCB Stencils or Glue-In Stencils

Framed PCB Stencils (Glue-In Stencils) are the strongest form of laser-cut stencils available. These stencils are designed for high-volume screen-printing during production runs. These PCB Stencils offer the best positional and dimensional accuracy when used under controlled temperature conditions.

Frameless PCB Stencils

Frameless stencils don’t have a fixed frame and offer optimum solder paste volume control for short runs or prototype PCB assembly. They are less expensive than stencils with frames and designed to work with a stencil tensioning system (reusable stencil frames such as universal frames).