What PCB finish for use with stencil?

Which PCB surface finish should be used for a mini stencil from Seeedstudio? Must it be totally flat (ENIG) or does lead-free HAL work with stencils, too?



And a related stencil question: In case anybody has the reflow oven T-962, would you recommend removing tantalum capacitors from the stencil and hand-solder them or can that oven solder temperature-sensitive parts without damage? I will use lead-free paste.

The surface finish does not really have any affect on whether or not a stencil can be used. Stencils and paste can be used successfully on all finishes, if not, then it’s a pretty bad finish :lol:



We don’t really have any experience with that reflow oven so I hope someone else can pitch in :arrow: