What kind of sockets hold component legs the best?

[nbabmf]

I've had nothing but trouble with getting transistors and diodes to stay in sockets.  They never make a good connection and usually fall out.  I've taken to just building multiple of a circuit, soldering and desoldering, or twiddling with one hand while strumming with the other, depending on the circuit.  I've got a bunch of germanium transistors now, and the last thing I want to do is solder them into place and risk destroying the mojo.

Where can I get quality sockets that HOLD?  Any tips for ensuring that components stay in place long after I screw the back plate on?

[petemoore]

  Smallbear has the machined kind, seems like when I stuff a transistor in one it just stix. The leads being off parallel and the sharpness of the socket hole tubes make 'em a little hard to get out.
  Perfection in lead bending/shaping school is about to open.
  I like to spread the legs out a touch, then cut them off even.
  I have pliers that if I put the transistor in just far enough the jawteeth put a 'hitch' right at the bottom of the Q leads, just enough to 'hook' when put in a standard socket.
  General roughness or waviness to the lead 'foot' helps give it grip over smooth sided leads.

[Mark Hammer]

The machined socket pins do indeed work best.  One trick you can also use is to simply tin the leads of whatever you're inserting into the socket. 

[waltk]

The sockets that Aron sells in the DIYSTOMPBOXES store work great.  I've put parts in and out of them many times, and they always hold.  Once you're really sure you don't want swap parts anymore, you can put a small drop of solder right where the lead meets the socket (although I haven't had any fall out without it).  Two tricks to make these work best - be sure to drill a .045" hole for the legs of the socket, and make sure your leads are straight, as it takes a little force to push them in.

[Mark Hammer]

I can also recomend a dab of Stabilant (www.stabilant.com) in the socket pins, but understand that the stuff is very hard for some folks to get hold of.