Hello,
I was reading an article in IEEE Spectrum in which the author describes
his recent experience working with SMT components at the hobby level.
The sizes of his components were too small to work with a regular
soldering iron and solder on a spool, so he described how he put dabs of
solder paste on the trace pads, placed the SMT components, and then placed the board in a toaster oven.
My question is this: are SMT components, including SMT ICs, particularly durable in the presence of extreme ambient temperatures? How is being
in a toaster oven with a tempearature I don't know exactly how hot but
certainly over what I've seen on IC spec sheet tolerances not ruining
the chips?
Thanks!

Thanks for that link. I wouldn't have thought ICs could stand 6.5 minutes at temperatures over 200 F. but facts trump preconceptions.

You can also use a cheap-as-chips non-stick electric frypan:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/pre...flow%20Skillet

...and the Sparkfun guys found it was more useful in many respects than their expensive (though still low-end) reflow oven!

P.