In general, you insert all components from the front of the board and solder at the back. On your board, the front is the side with all the component names screen-printed onto it (R10, C3, IC1 etc). But because your board is tinned through the holes, you will see solder flow right through the hole so it can look like the component was soldered from both sides. Here's a blurry (sorry!) photo of my Julius Squeezer board. On the germanium diode (top left) the effect of solder flowing through from the back is quite visible.
A good trick is to put a bit of tape (masking, electrical, doesn't matter) on the components after inserting them in the board so they stay put when you flip the board to solder. Although you can do multiple components at once this way, I prefer the slow and steady method of soldering 1 component at a time. Double check the component value, bend leads to right length, insert, double check placement, tape, flip, solder, inspect solder joins with magnified desk lamp. Then rinse and repeat. I also like to work from smaller components to larger, so the larger ones don't get in the way when inserting the smaller. So typically, resistors, diodes, small caps, sockets (ICs, transistors), large caps, and then pots and off-board wiring.
These are all just my preferences, but I find being systematic helps prevent errors.
Reply With Quote
