Ten Useful Things

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

RE Stickvice … I got one of these:

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

I find them much better than the old type with alligator clips !

Another couple of things :

One of those little plastic gauges for bending resistors or diode leads over so they fit through the holes in the circuit board .

A little cutting tool for cutting out the copper tracks on vero board .

A breadboard / power supply unit – basically just a plastic case with a decent sized breadboard mounted on top and an adjustable power supply inside . Mine has a small amp and speaker combo , mounting posts for a arduino uno , relays and leds with screw terminals so i can wire up a project and test it . I have found it very useful over the years.

Ian .

Edited By XD 351 on 16/01/2018 12:51:37

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by XD 351 on 16/01/2018 12:50:25:

A breadboard / power supply unit – basically just a plastic case with a decent sized breadboard mounted on top and an adjustable power supply inside . Mine has a small amp and speaker combo , mounting posts for a arduino uno , relays and leds with screw terminals so i can wire up a project and test it . I have found it very useful over the years.

Mine is built into the case for a BBC Micro modem :-0

[Douglas JohnstonParticipant @douglasjohnston98463]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 16/01/2018 12:32:43:

RE Stickvice … I got one of these:

Just ordered one after seeing this. I could not believe how inexpensive they are, just added another small item to get free postage as well. One very happy bunny this afternoon.

[Geoff TheasbyParticipant @geofftheasby]

Neil, the Duratool device is fine, but what all these jigs are lacking is a heatproof foam to be clipped to them just before you turn them over for soldering, then all the bits don't fall out!

Geoff

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Douglas Johnston on 16/01/2018 13:52:47:

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 16/01/2018 12:32:43:

RE Stickvice … I got one of these:

Just ordered one after seeing this. I could not believe how inexpensive they are, just added another small item to get free postage as well. One very happy bunny this afternoon.

If you buy from CPC you can get them at one price branded Duratool or nearly twice as much branded Velleman…

I ordered mine out of a CPC special and got it for about £4 including vat!

Neil

[Phil SParticipant @phils66830]

Natural rubber bench mat. Grooved side down for circuit board work. Grooved side up for working on equipment. Board holders encourage the bad habit of bending leads to retain the component whilst it is soldered. If the flat side of a mat is used in combination with a matchbox sized block (of wood or similar) leads can stay straight and the component is easily removed if required.

Edited By P Saunders on 16/01/2018 17:38:33

[Martin 100Participant @martin100]

Posted by Geoff Theasby on 16/01/2018 10:46:25:

Re: the Weller irons, they ARE an industry standard, but having used one professionally for many years I'm not sure why. The bits are hollow and soon burn through, and the base unit holds only a transformer which fails rather too often.

The only Weller irons I'm aware of with with just a transformer in the base are the magnastat ones using the curie point to operate a contact in the body of the handset.

I've never seen a tip burnt through, loss of plating after many months and thousands of joints but never burnt through. Never seen the transformers nor anything fail on them but the swich in the handset. (we didn't have a production line but our 'office' had about 50 in use for field work) I think I might have one kicking about in the shed. It's not been used for 25+ years. A 50W Weller with digital temperature control (7 segment display) gets used now and again on kit dating up the mid / late 80's, anything newer and I use a Metcal MX500, 13.56MHz RF tips, spot on temperature control and near instant heating from cold.

I'd drop the PCB holder and add a headset magnifier with really good lighting as essential for any surface mount work. Even better would be eyes with half a century less use.

Edited By Martin 100 on 16/01/2018 19:13:07

[richardandtracyParticipant @richardandtracy]

I can only come up with a few useful things:

1. Hammer
2. Crow bar
3. Pallets for timber/fuel
4. Saw
5. Electric screwdriver
6. Screws
7. Duct tape for when it moves and shouldn't.
8. WD40 for when it doesn't move and should
9. Sand (moulding)
10. Scrap aluminium for pallet fired furnace melting into said sand.

Anything else can be built up to from there with time, persistence and severe shortage of cash.

Regards

Richard.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

1. Ice cold workshop full of rejects
2. Armchair
3. Nothing on telly
4. Router and paid up Internet connection
5. Laptop
6. Browser
7. Forum Account
8. Bottle of Beer
9. Bottle opener
10. At least one keyboard trained finger

Dave

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Posted by Martin Kyte on 16/01/2018 12:28:10:

We also bought a LKPF CAD circuit board miller last year and thats a real joy to use after wet etch for all those years. The nice thing is you can do odd shaped circuit boards.

OK not the sort of thing you are going to find at home, the soldering station alone was around £800 and the mill somewhere north of 20K but you may be interested to hear what prototyping electronics workshops are up to.

regards Martin

Interesting – I've been dealing with LPKF for laser welding production equipment (for plastic assemblies). Those are certainly well north of the 20k mark….

Is the LPKF PCB machine actually a milling machine or a laser driller / cutter like this? I ask because they are a laser company. Looks pretty tasty either way.

Murray

I think I've just answered my own question – they do one machine (the Protomat D104, phoooaaarr) with a milling spindle (100krpm) and a laser.

Edited By Muzzer on 16/01/2018 20:40:46

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Re the old style Weller irons with curie point temperature control. The originals used screw terminals on the side of the base to connect the iron to the low voltage side of the transformer. Then they "improved" the design and fitted a plug and socket using the miniature Bulgin 3-pin type. Turned out these were designed originally for mains, and some mains leads were around our lab at the PO Research Lab with 3-pin plug on one end and miniature Bulgin on the end. Someone just has to see what would happen, the results were (briefly) spectacular as the transformer primary generated 2.4 kV for a short time, followed by what I understand was called in the BBC a "loud brown smell"…

H&S had a fit.

[Peter KroghParticipant @peterkrogh76576]

A (huhmm) tip for those that make tips from copper for soldering irons. I learned this for the old copper bits heated in a furnace but have applied it to any copper: When shaping the tip is finished, coat the tip with silver brazing alloy. The tip will last a loooonnngggg time.

Pete

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

Here's my rework station, it includes a vacuum pump and was locally made here in Vic, Australia.

I have another one coming along with a microscope and specialised tools for smd work.

Here is my favourite wire stripper, the cam precisely adjusts the jaw gap (so that no conductors are damaged), set the end stop (length of insulation to be stripped) and squeeze the handles. It is a real joy to use such tools.

* Danny M *

Edited By Danny M2Z on 17/01/2018 08:11:05

[Geoff TheasbyParticipant @geofftheasby]

A waking thought re: inverting pcb holders and keeping the parts 'in'.

Top quality (thick) carpet underlay for resilience and rockwool model boiler insulation as a heatproof layer?

Geoff

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Posted by Muzzer on 16/01/2018 20:06:59:

Posted by Martin Kyte on 16/01/2018 12:28:10:

We also bought a LKPF CAD circuit board miller last year and thats a real joy to use after wet etch for all those years. The nice thing is you can do odd shaped circuit boards.

OK not the sort of thing you are going to find at home, the soldering station alone was around £800 and the mill somewhere north of 20K but you may be interested to hear what prototyping electronics workshops are up to.

regards Martin

Interesting – I've been dealing with LPKF for laser welding production equipment (for plastic assemblies). Those are certainly well north of the 20k mark….

Is the LPKF PCB machine actually a milling machine or a laser driller / cutter like this? I ask because they are a laser company. Looks pretty tasty either way.

Murray

I think I've just answered my own question – they do one machine (the Protomat D104, phoooaaarr) with a milling spindle (100krpm) and a laser.

Edited By Muzzer on 16/01/2018 20:40:46

It's just the plain old milling version rather than laser. Protomat S63 actually. Seeing as we had been using etch tanks for the last 30 years and sending boards out it's a real step up. Certainly beats manuall drilling.

With regard to the Wellers the system used direct tip temp measurement not the old style curie point system (which was allways good at generating EM glitches as it clicked away at the back of the bench). As I say with the auto standby the tips just last and last.

regards Martin

regards Martin

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

Danny those wire strippers,look like something out of a horror movie ! I'm sure i have seen something similar at my doctors surgery but i was too afraid to ask what he did with it !

Ian.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

I thought the weller tips were iron and plated with Nickel. The wet sponge for cleaning the hot tip is oddly non-intuitive. I think rubber mats for soldering iron might give you static damage.
I made the MAP plans 'Sardine' submarine 4ft long from biscuit tins with only a 15w iron and tinman's solder stick. That plan should never have been sold – it was a disgrace.
We didn't have pcb holders at my multimillion pound defence contractor labs so to hold the pcb for my first computer in '77 I milled two slots in a piece of scrap square ali tube in line with the thicker bit on the inside. Turned out to be expensive WG17 double ridged waveguide extrusion. Still got it somewhere.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Weller now use Bronze swarf for tip cleaning.

Martin

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 15/01/2018 22:40:03:

Posted by Richard Marks on 15/01/2018 22:21:59:

Add a retractable scalpel to your list, good for cutting, picking, scraping and other things.

Edited By Richard Marks on 15/01/2018 22:22:27

Yes, but then it would be eleven, I marginally use a needle more than a scalpel. Strictly it's a dissecting needle too

Sounds like a Borrowdale needle, used in surgery, dissection, microscopy and various prodding, cutting and poking jobs.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by daveb on 17/01/2018 16:29:32:

Sounds like a Borrowdale needle, used in surgery, dissection, microscopy and various prodding, cutting and poking jobs.

Never heard one called that before, I've found one reference to the name on Google.

Neil

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 17/01/2018 18:42:27:

Posted by daveb on 17/01/2018 16:29:32:

Sounds like a Borrowdale needle, used in surgery, dissection, microscopy and various prodding, cutting and poking jobs.

Never heard one called that before, I've found one reference to the name on Google.

Neil

I used to sell a lot of these 50 odd years ago, seem to be referred to as Dissecting needles nowadays. Daveb

[StephenSParticipant @stephens]

Neil

What model of rework station do you have please?

I have a good Weller magnastat station and a good quality solder sucker, and some solder wick. I have not ventured into smd components yet but will have to soon.

Please can you explain the advantages of a rework station, what specifically is it, does it do, etc for me the uninitiated.

Thanks, Stephen S.

[StephenSParticipant @stephens]

Posted by Geoff Theasby on 16/01/2018 02:13:11:

I've never needed a temp controlled iron, used an Antex X25 for decades. Rework gun? No. Soda-Wick is much cheaper.

Geoff,

Do you do smd component work with this set-up? And if so, do you find it works OK? Do you use a solder sucker at all or just solder wick?

Thanks, Stephen S.

[Geoff TheasbyParticipant @geofftheasby]

Hi Stephen,

Yes, I use solder wick with SM components. It works fine, Ronseal should sell it. Solder suckers often have too big a nozzle, curable by fitting a Hellermann sleeve over it to improve the suction by making a better seal with the work.

Geoff

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