My PCB Finally Has Components!

Today I finally started soldering components onto my PCB!

I started by organizing all the parts by component type and designator so I could keep track of everything once the tiny SMD components came out. Then I worked from the inside of the board toward the outside, which gave me a little more room for the tweezers and soldering iron.

Of course, I made a few mistakes along the way. 😆 A couple of times I pushed a little too hard with the tweezers and lifted the resistor right off the pads. Some parts also needed to be adjusted several times before I was happy with the position.

It definitely took more patience than I expected, especially with components this small. Sometimes I thought I finally had one in the right place, then looked closer and realized I needed to move it again. 😂

But this was a really fun exercise. I’ve spent a lot of time designing PCBs on the computer, so it was nice to finally work on the actual board and get some hands-on soldering practice.

Still plenty more components to go, but I’m pretty happy with today’s progress. 🔧✨