Jan 17, 2014 
BEST Inc Develops Plastic Film Stencils for DIY’rs, Labs and Educational Institutions
BEST Inc., has developed a line of Kapton™ SMT stencils for the prototype assembly market. These stencils, available in 4,5 and 6 thicknesses, present very flat coplanar printing surfaces for solder paste printing. They are designed to be used when the there are very few boards to be made at one time and the pitch of the components is 1.00 and above.
Unlike other plastic film stencils that are fabricated from Mylar™ the Kapton™ holds up to the laser cutting process allowing for very clean and precise hole patterns to be performed. In addition, the Kapton™ , due its heat withstand properties, can absorb the heat of the laser cutting process and not produce the “ridges” found in typical Mylar™ stencils. These ridges impact printing causing there to be “smearing” of solder paste in and around the apertures.
“After several customers came to us asking for this type of product we developed a really nice product that speaks to the quality of the rest of our products at a price point that is just what these prototype assemblers are looking for “ said Katy Radcliff, product manager for BEST Inc.
BEST’s Kapton™ stencils are available in 4,5 and 6 mil thicknesses. Orders are shipped within 24 hours of customer checkplot approval. Stencils are list priced at $50 each.. See the recently produced study on plastic vs metal stencils here. http://www.smtnet.com/library/files/upload/plastic-vs-metal-stencils.pdf
Business Electronics Soldering Technologies (BEST) BEST specializes in offering products that streamline hand soldering, rework and repair..They have been designing and producing various stencil products for 8 years. BEST is an IPC Certified Center offering Instructor and Operator soldering courses for IPC-A-610, JSTD-001, IPC 7711/7721, IPC-A-620 and Ipc-A-600 as well as customized classes to meet specific standards or criteria. For more information, visit www.solder.net.
