2006 may be remembered as the year of the race for green. The push for RoHS compliance by the electronic assembly industry has reached full throttle. Even companies that don’t believe they will have to comply have found them selves forced into it because component and board manufacturers are switching to lead free solder.

So how does this affect SMT Stencil Manufacturers? Actually very little. Stencil design may actually become easier with many of the new SAC solder pastes, which call for 1:1 aperture to pad design. The big deal is that for a period of time (no one seems to know how long) assembly operations will be handling both leaded and lead free solder paste products. Their problem (which as usual they pass on to us) is making sure that they can properly identify products used in both areas.

Four Points has been working with our principals to bring reliable and low cost solutions to the market. Anyone walking thru the recent IPC expo in Anaheim had to notice the number of green powder coated stencil frames. This may satisfy your customers identification needs, but it is very expensive. A second problem with powder coated frames is longevity. Repeated washing in harsh cleaners will deteriorate the coating. It will start to orange peel. The third problem is recycling. When removing the mesh glue, how do you keep from removing the powder coat?

Epoxies Etc: Can provide its 10-3022 2-part epoxy green. The product can easily be provided in 90 gram jars or 400 cc twin cartridges. The green color would be achieved by making part A blue and part B yellow. An added benefit of this kind of coloring is that it becomes very obvious when the two components are properly mixed. Available in March 2006.

Industrial Fabrics Corp: Will have Its Screentex 64/127 low elongation polyester screen mesh available in green. Initially the product will be available in 41" width only.

Other widths would require 3-4 week lead times and large orders. The cost increase for the 41" wide mesh will not be significant. Available early in March 2006.

The above two solutions will provide low cost and easily seen product identification.

For Customers concerned about identifying stencils "on the rack":

Printer’s Edge: proposes to etch Lead Free Stencil and back fill with epoxy green on one outer edge of the aluminum frame. This solution will be much cheaper than completely powder coating frames, and will be easy to repair if damaged by cleaners or recycling.

Printer’s Edge: will also offer meshed frames using green mesh, green epoxy or both. Available in March 2006.

National Electronic Alloys: is ready for the transition with significant inventory of its INVAR foil. Can’t color it green, but its 36% nickel content is great for lead free paste release.