possible to buy un-assembled kits for workshop?

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ljyang
 
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possible to buy un-assembled kits for workshop?

Post by ljyang »

Hi, not sure if the educators board is right for this question or the smd board, but I think the educator component trumps so here it goes. I want to teach a class/workshop on smd soldering at my local hackerspace, and I have a board I designed for another project that I thought might work, but it is very specific for the other task. I'd like to have the students/participants walk out with something a bit more useful. I have and use the 32u4 breakout and thought that it might be a good board for the class. It'll give experience with various smd components, and it is much more useful for future use than my custom board. I was wondering if you'd be able to sell unassembled kits for the 32u4 for use in the class. I know all the gerbers are available, and I could source all the parts from digikey/mouser myself for the class, but the anticipated class size will likely be 10-15 (split between probably 2 classes/workshops), so I was looking for something a bit easier than self sourcing everything. The order size would probably be 20 so we have spares and enough for me to test out before the class and also use as demonstration during the class before the students do the soldering. Would this be something that adafruit would sell for use in the class? Cut strips from the reels would work and I can hand out parts to students as we go, or assemble classroom kits or something. I'm not trying to make any money on this, just looking for an easy way to do the class so it has a useful end product for the students. I really want to show that smd is not hard with the tools available at the hackerspace, but I don't have the time right now to source all the parts and such. Also with a pre-done kit it'll be easier to have participants pre-pay so I'm not out of pocket for the whole order until the class, and also will make sure I don't order something that doesn't work and be stuck with useless parts.

Also I know you use steel stencils now, but if you were able to provide the 20 kits, would you also be able to sell us a kapton stencil? If not we can get one from one of the online vendors, but single sourcing would be much easier.

Thanks
John

adafruit
 
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Re: possible to buy un-assembled kits for workshop?

Post by adafruit »

hey john!

thanks for the post, we'll have a SMD kit soon for schools and workshops but we do not have one ready yet. we currently only sell the 32u4 as an assembled product. we do not sell stencils at this time either, but we'll definitely consider it if there are lots of requests!

thanks!
adafruit

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ljyang
 
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Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 11:21 am

Re: possible to buy un-assembled kits for workshop?

Post by ljyang »

OK, we'll kit up our own workshop supplies. Thanks for the quick reply. And for your future smd kit, I'd think that the 32u4 or similar would be a good option, especially with the leonardo bootloader option. I'd thought about making/using a simple led board for the class/workshop, but wanted something that would be a gateway for more exploration.

And for the class kits, I'd think that including a stencil option for class size orders would be a nice bonus for those running the class. syringe pasting for a full class could rapidly become a pita.

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