Lot's of this going on. Spare pads for optional parts, etc. First, never tape off any stencil openings as too many opportunities for misprints and revision confusion. Second, wear is normal to an extent. Pressure dependent squeegee requirements critical for paste dispensation - then normal wear marks. Any inidcations of uneven wear marks? How does the stencil mic out? Using overarm micrometer, does the stencil still have specified thickness or do all apetures have "nominal" shapes, etc. How about sencil quality and cleanliness? Really though, hard to wear out stainless stencil with stainless blades using effective process management in my lifetime or board's. What about paste process management conditions. If millions of prints, get new stencil. Also, check for crud underneath stencil allowing glops of paste to be printed, but you know all that. And on it goes. MoonMan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send the following message: SET Technet NOMAIL Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------