Surface mount rework stations are very expensive, Openschemes shows us that it is possible to perform Surface Mount Component Removal using a Heat Gun.
"Now it doesn’t matter much WHICH heat gun you use, although it should be able to produce a good bit of air at >300C. In our experience, long heating times due to using a weaker gun are the biggest cause of PCB burn, bulge, or trace peel.
A drawback of high air setting is the risk of blowing neighboring devices (usually tiny SMT resistors or capacitors) off their pads and maybe even off the board! You will need to weigh the risk at rework time and choose your airflow accordingly – if you have a device that’s simply SURROUNDED by tiny SMT caps, you may want to use lower air or make a foil cone for your heatgun to contain the hot air to the desired area. Here’s the heat gun we used here, peak temp is about 550C."
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Use kapton tape to shield surrounding components
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TiVo PROM hack in progress?
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I’ve used this method several times on a laptop that wouldn’t flash the BIOS properly. I had to remove the PROM to reprogram it. I ended up getting a new board for it because I burned the board while trying to get solder on one of the places to melt.
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i’ve been doing this for awhile now, but you have to watch out for burning the board up or worse, burn the chip you’re trying to get. I was trying to get a smd mini usb off a razr for another proj and ended up melting the plastic inside. *DUR*