Upload your gerber files (one for the paste layer and one for the outline), get a 3d-printable solder stencil as an STL file.

3d-printed stencils don't work nearly as well as stainless steel ones, and depending on your printer and nozzle size, ICs with very close pin spacing will be a challenge. Usually, pin spacings down to about 0.4mm work just fine though.

• If you find the pads and holes don't align properly, try increasing the distance between board and ledge by a few tenths of a millimeter. If that's not it, your printer's calibration might be off.
• You can use negative values for hole size increase to increase the separation between closely spaced tabs, to allow printing a separating line. The downside is that this makes all pads smaller.
• Some boards can produce 2-dimensional walls if pads directly touch each other, which can throw off slicers. If this happens, increase the hole size very slightly (like 0.001mm) to make the holes overlap.
• The thicker the stencil and the smaller the solder pads, the more paste will stick to the stencil. If you're not getting enough paste on the pads, make the holes bigger or reduce the stencil thickness.
• If you've got a file that's not working right, send it to me at rob@kirberich.uk and I'll have a look to see what's up.

If you'd like to support this project and help me keep the site running, you can buy me a coffee!

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Files

Solderpaste File

The solderpaste layer - use either top or bottom. For bottom stencils, you will likely also want to enable 'Flip Stencil'

Outline File

The outline layer

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Processing Options

Flip Stencil

Flip the stencil - use this for bottom layer stencils.

Thickness

Thickness of the stencil, in mm. Make sure this is a multiple of the layer height used when printing.

Increase hole size by

Increase the size of all holes in the stencil by this amount (in mm). Use this if you find holes get printed smaller than they should. Use negative values to increase the space between tightly spaced pads at the cost of making the pads smaller.

Gap

Gap between the stencil and the frame/ledge. Use this if the fit is too tight or loose.

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Alignment Aid

Alignment Aid Type

Ledge

Frame

None

Full Ledge

Instead of going halfway around the board, extend the ledge to surround the entire board.

Ledge Thickness (mm). Should be less than the PCB thickness!

Frame Width (mm)

Frame Height (mm)

Frame Thickness (mm)

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Convert to STL