Transition Automation, Inc., the leading provider of high performance metal squeegee blades and holder systems, today is highlighting a simple but often overlooked truth in SMT printing: in high-precision SMT assembly, the length of the squeegee directly impacts print quality, process stability, and paste performance.
The optimal configuration is straightforward, a squeegee matched to the PCB width, plus approximately 25mm on each side. This “right-sized” approach ensures the squeegee and solder paste remain exactly where they should be: over the active print area.
When squeegees are oversized, they extend beyond the board edges into unused stencil space. That extra reach introduces unnecessary risk into the process. The squeegee and stencil are forced to deflect over unsupported areas or tooling, accelerating solder paste drying, increasing mechanical stress on the stencil due to stretching, and creating the potential for blade damage, especially in setups where clamps or tooling exist outside the PCB area. The result? Reduced print consistency, shorter stencil life, and accelerated solder paste degradation. It also confounds the pressure settings because the normal print force for a longer squeegee is often set, but the actual force is only impacting a smaller portion of the squeegee, leading to an overforce situation.
Appropriately sizing the squeegee eliminates these issues at the source. By keeping the print stroke confined to the active area, manufacturers gain tighter process control and can often reduce print pressure, further improving consistency and extending stencil performance.
Most OEM squeegees are only available in fixed lengths, constrained by holder designs with only set sizes available. In many cases, manufacturers are forced to choose squeegee lengths that don’t fit the job.
Transition Automation solves this limitation with its Permalex® Universal holder and blade assemblies. Each squeegee is manufactured to exact length requirements, without being restricted to standard sizes or minimum lengths. This flexibility allows manufacturers to dial in the ideal configuration for every board, every time.
About Transition Automation
Transition Automation, Inc. is a pioneer in High-Performance Metal Squeegee blades and holder systems. Permalex brand squeegees are used by many top-tier electronics manufacturers, especially those that supply high-value, mission-critical end markets, such as Space and Satellite, Automotive, Avionics, and Industrial Controls.
For more information, please visit www.metalsqueegees.com.
