Is solder mask necessary?

[lardom]

@Sprig

I set the Pads/Mask Clearance to zero with good results on boards produced by OSHPark. Even with THT it makes it nearly brainless to keep solder bridging from happening. Unless there is a cost savings for not applying soldermask, there does not seem to be much reason to spend the extra effort to remove it from a design.

Thank you. Solder mask will be a regular step in the process.
You’ve got a working pcb from 1986?