Recently I came across a stack of old Reprap beds which I had created to be made into resistor heated beds which were no longer used for the most part by the community due to their weight and the ease of using other heater options. So what to do…? Some people had mentioned that they liked the stencil8 compatible plate which I have been using for years on my personal workbench. (Originally designed by Zach Hoeken aka Hoektronics)
And then it hit me…I can convert these beds to some very beautiful stencil8 compatible jigs. They are laser cut aluminum plates which were bead blasted and color anodized…so the money had been spent there. The only thing left to do was to have the hole pattern drilled in them which ended up being a 21×21 grid of 2.5mm holes which are spaced 10mm from their centers.
These plates allow easily fixturing PCBs for stenciling solder paste in order to allow SMT reflow soldering. They would also be very useful for a tooling plate for a laser cutter or other machines which require fixturing and could benefit from a pin jig.
I think they turned out very well and it made something new from older inventory. If there is a community interest I may consider making more in the future…possibly with revisions. If there is any interest in bulk or custom plates please let me know. Here is the store link for purchase