TOOL REVIEWS

[Dragonfly]

I thought it might be useful to have a thread (sticky or Wiki ?) that contained reviews of the various tools we use for building stompboxes. Everything from soldering irons to solder wick to pliers and wire strippers could be contained here. Even tools that are widely acknowledged as excellent ones for our purposes (Unibit, Weller WES51, etc) would be good to review, so that beginners would be able to buy the "right" items...quality items that will last...and keep from wasting $$$ on useless or inferior stuff.

Anyway, I think a basic "1 thru 5" rating system (5 being the best) would be an easy way to rate these items. Categories like "overall value", "usefulness", "quality", etc would be good, and maybe a short review of each item with a link/price/etc to where you got it. Items like the Unibit and the Weller WES51 could even have "Stompers Choice" awards . Seriously though...this could help vets find new tools, and beginners get the necessities...

What do you guys think ?

[Dragonfly]

Since I started the thread, I'll do the first review...

In my recent move, some of my tools have remained in boxed, yet to be found. One of these tools is my beloved wire cutters. These cutters are "old school", probably 20 or more years old, made of true hardened steel and they just never seem to dull. Anyway, I had to get started on some pedals, and since my cutters are still boxed up, I had to find a reasonable substitute to tie me over till they're found. I have my share of cheap, Harbor Freight wire cutters, and while these work "ok", I've never been satisfied with them. Those of you who own quality tools know what I mean when I say "you can really tell the difference between a $20-$40 set of wire cutters and a inexpensive set of wire cutters"....until now !

A recent trip to Fry Electronic (www.frys.com) found me looking at a set of Xcelite 170M shearcutters.They are made to cut "up to" 20AWG wire, which is perfect for stompbox use, and only cost $4.99 ! This seemed too good to be true, so I bought them just to find out. Anyway, after some use (2 pedal builds) I have to say that, while these won't replace my old school cutters, this is an excellent quality cutter, especially for the price. The handle is comfortable, spring action is good, it cuts through wire like hot butter, and does nice "flush cuts". I'm EXTREMELY pleased with this purchase. I can, without hesitation, recommend these to people just starting out, or those who need new cutters and didn't have a lot of money to spend. It's still a "honeymoon" period, but these are a really nice "medium duty" set of wire cutters.

QUALITY : 4
USEFULNESS: 5
OVERALL VALUE: 5

[demonstar]

Great idea!

Here goes...

EXTECH DMM BOUGHT FROM FARNELL. CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT I PAYED BUT THEY HAVE GOT IT UP FOR £39.99 WITH FREE NEXT DAY DELIVERY I THE U.K.

MANUFACTURER: EXTECH INSTRUMENTS
MODEL: EX330
FEATURES: USUAL MULTIMETER FUNCTIONS SUCH AS AC VOLTAGE, DC VOLTAGE, RESISTANCE, CURRENT AND CONTINUNUITY TEST. OTHER FEATURES INCLUDE A TMPERATURE SETTING FOR USE WITH THE INCLUDED THERMOCOUPLE, FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT AND DUTY CYCLE, CAPACITANCE AND NON-CONTACT VOLTAGE DETECTION FROM 100 TO 600 VOLTS AC. THERE IS A HOLD FEATURE WHICH FREEZES THE DISPLAY.

I HAVE HAD THIS MULTIMETER FOR A YEAR NOW AND PERSONALLY HAVE FOUND IT SUPERB FOR WHAT I REQUIRE IN DIY EFFECTS AND AROUND THE HOUSE USE.

FEATURES:****
HAS JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING I COULD NEED WITHOUT HAVING TOO MUCH. FOR THIS REASON I HAVE GIVEN IT 4 STARS. WOULD HAVE GAINED 5 HAD IT MEASURED INDUCTANCE. IT ALSO DOESN'T MEASURE HFE HOWEVER THAT IS UNIMPORTANT TO ME.

USEFULNESS:*****
AS ALREADY MENTIONED I FIND IT IS MORE THAN ADEQUATE FOR WHAT I REQUIRE. USE IT ALL THE TIME FOR ALL KINDS OF THINGS. EVEN USEFUL FOR CHECKIN THE TEMPERATURE OF FRIDGES; CHECK THE WINE FRIDGE IS READING CORRECT. 

QUALITY:***
THE NON CONTACT VOLTAGE DETECTION ISN'T OVERLY ACCURATE BUT I HAVEN'T COME ACCROSS ONE THAT IS YET. THIS MULTIMETER ISN'T A FLUKE BUT IT IS IN A NICE RUBBER EASY TO GRIP PROTECTIVE POCKET WITH STAND ATTACHED. THE TEST LEADS ARE VERY NICE IN MY OPINION AND HAVE LITTLE PROTECTIVE TIPS THAT POP ON EACH END TO PROTECT THE TEST LEADS.  I REALLY LIKE THE QUALITY AND IT'S SPOT ON FOR ME BUT HAVE NEVER GOT MY HANDS ON A FLUKE OR OTHER TOP QUALITY METER SO I'M RATING THIS ONE CONSERVATIVELY. JUST AS A SIDE POINT THIS METER HAS REPLACED A REALLY OLD BECKHAM METER I USED TO BORROW FROM FAMILY.

RELIABILLITY:*****
NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS YET SO TOP MARKS. TO BE FAIR IT'S NOT USED IN ANY HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS BUT NON THE LESS IT HAS HELD UP. RUNS OFF TWO AAA BATTERIES. THEY'VE NEVER RAN OUT SO FAR AND I'VE BEEN USNG IT FOR A YEAR.

OVERALL:****
I WOULD DEFINATELY RECOMMEND.


http://www.extech.com/instrument/products/alpha/ex330.html


http://uk.farnell.com/1271508/test-equipment/product.us0?sku=extech-instruments-ex330&_requestid=352631

[earthtonesaudio]

I use those exact Xcelite cutters at work all the time, for fiber optic connections.  They are quite good, and have held up for a long time of moderate-light use.

[MicFarlow77]

Nice thread AC!

Nice thread idea. Good tools are essential to making and finishing these stompboxes out properly. I like them cutters to.... my wife bought some similar for beading purposes and I re-tasked them for stompboxes.. they work like a charm for getting in close to trim stuff up. They are technically called Bead Nippers. They are flush cutters with attitude...

Here is a pic



Another tool (well, actually a product) l I could never live without



Sorry John, couldn't resist. TAG....

Thanks,

Mick

[asfastasdark]

Great idea!

25W RadioShack Pencil Soldering Iron - $8.79



For the price it's OK, but really not good at all. It's just a basic soldering iron, comes with a really crappy stand (non-spiral) that is really hard to work with, and the tip gets corroded pretty quickly even with regular use (not touching solder to the iron to solder, that type of stuff). The replacement tip costs 2 or 3 bucks, and is fine. The iron gets too hot after a while, the temperature is not regulated, so you have to unplug it every 30 minutes or so and plug it back in to cool it off decently to avoid damaging components. This can get quite annoying. I wouldn't recommend buying this unless you need to solder a couple of joints immediately or you will never use it again after one use, because for a couple of uses it's OK, but definitely not great. Invest $30 or $40 more and get a cool Weller soldering station, it'll be worth it! 2 stars because it's such bad quality, and also because the cord is just very short and simply ways the pencil down, tipping it out of its stand sometimes (see below for stand).

RadioShack Soldering Iron Stand with Sponge - 7.99



Fine quality. Just your everyday spiral soldering iron stand, with a sponge in a separate compartment besides it. Only problems I've had so far are that sometimes the short cord of my RadioShack iron makes the stand almost fall over, and when you set the iron in it, the tip touches the plastic so that you actually have to stick the iron in "half-way" to avoid it melting the plastic and screwing up the tip. Works great besides these minor problems. 3.5 stars, due to the problems mentioned above.

Kronus (bought at RadioShack) Adjustable Wire Strippers/Cutters - 5.99



Bought this as a simple wire stripper. It has a small screw that you can slide in a gap and tighten to adjust the wire gauge you want to strip. The cutting part is composed to an acute angle used to strip the wire, and two parallel blades similar to a pair of scissors to cut the wire all the way through. I don't even use the screw, I just slowly cut through the outer shielding till I feel the harder inner copper wires (in stranded wire, not solid, I don't use solid) and then just pull the outer layer off with the strippers themselves. 4 stars. Would have gotten 5 stars if it had those little gaps used for seperate wire gauges so you could strip more accurately. The stripper/cutter strips/cuts... I don't know what gauge, but I know it could do 18 probably, so these are well-suited for DIY and stompboxes.

RadioShack-bought 90-foot roll of 22 AWG stranded wire (black, red, or white)



I bought this because of the price mainly, 5.99 for 90 feet. Works great. I have a roll of black wire, and it's lasted me a while. It's strong wire that doesn't break when you bend it, simply hookup wire that you can use for pretty much anything. Haven't encountered a single problem with it. 5 stars out of 5.

66-foot roll of 3/4" wide electrical tape, from RadioShack



Good insulating tape, glue is not the best quality, it tends to not stick too well after you've had a piece out from the roll for a couple of minutes, for example. Nothing else that's worth mentioning. 4 stars.

RadioShack roll of rosin-core 60/40 solder

Sorry, don't know which one I got so no pic 

Anyway, I got a really thin diameter of this stuff, for about $3.50 or so, a good amount of it, too, and it works fine. I don't like how flexible it is, it is really, really, flexible, but besides that it's just good solder. 4.5 stars!

[col]

Pound Shop wire strippers!
Most pound shops seem to have these now, they are the type that you grip the plastic covered wire with the first set of jaws and a second set comes and takes off the insulation as you squeeze harder, just like Alien. I paid nearly £20 for a set once which lasted me 6 months before disintegrating, I am on my second £1 set now and both have lasted longer than the more expensive set. They are fully recyclable too when they do break! Often come with a second totally useless tool that is supposed to be able to cut and strip wire but doesn't.

Pound Shop solder sucker!
Works just as well as a much more expensive item that I bought a few years ago and the tip doesn't melt when I touch the tip of the iron. "Tip" from one of my work colleagues who is actually an electrical engineer. Run some Olive oil inside it and the solder doesn't stick to the piston, the spring or the walls.

Bolton market Dremmel tool set (£4.99)!
Came in a wooden box and has more parts than the £20+ set I originally bought. Strangely they look better quality too!

Stripboard Cutter, manual rotating type.
Available from Rapid or Maplins (expensive to buy and cheap looking). A jewellers screwdriver performs exactly the same task! (See pound shop for set of 6)

Small Dremmel type 12v DC drill
Bought years ago for detailing model trains. Works just as well for stompboxes.

Big Black and Decker 240vAC drill
The only one I have that will hold a 12.5mm bit for drilling boxes to take stomp switches, jacks and 9v adapters.

Various pliers, grips and cutters.
Various sources. The ones specially for model making seem the best for gripping and cutting. The cheap ones have soft jaws and won't last long.

Telephone wire
Available free from lots of sources including work and skips. Free multi coloured wire that is perfect for our purposes. Multi strand is best but I have used single strand when pushed!

[petemoore]

WCL-100 Weller soldering station.
  Works great for a little while, tips are easy to clean, and it does medium to light duty soldering very nicely.
  Tips burn out or split and crack after light-medium use, and cost ~18 dollars.
  I won't be buying another.
  The base can be used as a lamp dimmer.
  It developed into a 40$, +18, +...nevermind buying these tips that explode or go cold, 3 in less than 1 year, this last one I was takin' it easy on too, tryin' to keep that dial set <just above '3' or 1/2 way.
  A couple times I 'hard heated' it for a short enough time to get through some medium/heavy solderings.
    3 out of 5.
  ...See Below...
  [So Dragonfly...what is the number of the replacement tips for the Weller WES-51 ?
  5 buk tips...that's the one I should have gotten 
  nothing quite like a freshly tinned / hot tip, IME.
  Since I had time to modify, I changed to 3/5, perhaps I can find good replacement tips for <18buxx a pop.
 

[Dragonfly]

In direct contrast to Petes review of their cheap model


WELLER WES-51 SOLDERING STATION


Well, I've had this for a few years now, and after almost daily use (generally 2-8 hours a day, 4 or 5 days a week), I can definitely attest to its reliability. Heats up fast, cools down quickly, temp control is excellent - just a great iron. I've gone through the grand total of ONE tip in that 3 year time period...I probably have another couple months on the current one...(about $5 for tips at Fry's, IIRC)

Anyway....


QUALITY: 5
USEFULNESS: 5
OVERALL VALUE: 5

These are currently $87 at AMAZON

If this thing EVER breaks (after 4 or 5 moves, its been through Hell) I'll DEFINITELY buy another.

[John Lyons]

Hmmm...
I've had the Weller WLC-100 for about 6 years and I've only replaced the tip twice.
I use the 1/16" tips, comes with the 1/8" tip (good for amp work).
Replaced the sponge several times.

You can get the tips at Tubesandmore.com for $6.
I use it almost everyday .
Sometimes I forget and leave it on overnight as well. 

Here's a cool site with the schematic and PCB for the thing as well!

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/wlc100ly.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/wlc100.html&h=343&w=500&sz=9&hl=en&start=4&um=1&usg=__9xPk0brbkNPwlTexxl3uKhysjlg=&tbnid=SeXMmo0txIfN1M:&tbnh=89&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3DWeller%2BWLC-100%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

john

[liddokun]

Sorry John, couldn't resist. TAG....

Thanks,

Mick

I had a feeling in my gut that I was going to see something like that. 

[asfastasdark]

Here's a cool site with the schematic and PCB for the thing as well!

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/wlc100ly.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/wlc100.html&h=343&w=500&sz=9&hl=en&start=4&um=1&usg=__9xPk0brbkNPwlTexxl3uKhysjlg=&tbnid=SeXMmo0txIfN1M:&tbnh=89&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3DWeller%2BWLC-100%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

john

Site is 404'd, but basic url hacking skillz revealed:
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/wlc100ly.gif

That's the schematic you're talking about, I believe?

[John Lyons]

Sorry for filling up the posts here Andy... But here's the full LINK for the WLC-100 with schematic and parts info etc.
Thanks for the try asfastasdark 

John

[kurtlives]

Mastercraft Auto Ranging DMM


Features:
Full autoranging multimeter, 8 functions and 28 ranges with auto power-off after 30 mins
DC voltage - 4V, 40V, 400V, 1000V
AC voltage - 4V, 40V, 400V, 750V
DC current - 400µA, 40mA, 400mA, 4A, 10A
Resistance - 400, 4k, 40k, 400k, 4M, 40M
Diode test
Continuity beeper
Frequency test
Capacitance test
Temperature 0 to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit (#0520037 probe not included)
Transistor test
Digital display size is 25mm, requires 1 AAA battery - not included


I bought this DMM on a whim... I now I have three but I couldn't pass this one up, it is on sale and has some neat features.

With this guy I could easily throw out all my other meters. It does everything, geez. It is quite heavy through and takes up a bit more space on the bench then I would like. Though it does have legs to tilt it back to save space. It has a big LCD screen with an option for a back light in case your measuring 400+V in the dark.

I have only had it for 3 weeks now and I still haven't discovered everything about it. Now that is a good thing and a bad thing... It has tons of useful functions but it also has just a ton of controls. There is so much tweaking and auto ranging jazz and crap it does... I wanna build effects not read a manual. I mean I can operate it quite easily but I feel it could be easier for me if I knew more about it and I know there are functions I have not unlocked from it. For example... I randomly wanted to try and measure the temp of a heat sink in a circuit on my BB. On the spot I could not figure out how to do it, it required some manual reading as it wasn't too simple.

It does seem to go throw batteries faster and I don't like the fact that is does not turn itself off after an extended period of time like my other DMMs, 30min is too long. Good sturdy test probes, cant complain.

Overall great unit, great price just a bit complex at times...may take a while to get used to it and use at its full potential. For the Canadian members I suggest you take a trip down to your local Crappy Tire and pick one up. $40 buck...

QUALITY : 4
USEFULNESS: 4
OVERALL VALUE: 4

[John Lyons]

Here are my "used 95% of the time" tools.

Left to right
Reading glasses  For small stuff, drilling PCBs and pretty much all pedal building I use these to see in detail.
Guess I should have posted this in the "Age" thread!
Jewlers screwdrivers. I take the smallest one and grind a point on it. Makes a good pick to poke around and open up small PCB holes and to open up a little wiggle room in a pot or DC jack lug with a few wires to solder in it.
Bent needle nose pliers (smooth jaws) These are great for wire routing and bending.
The bent nose makes them easier to get around in the box.
Automatic Wire Strippers Spring loaded and one handed stripping. These are some metric size cutters but they do #24 and most pedal and amp size wires just fine.
Small flush cutters As mentioned above. I got these at Kmart for a dollar actually, they aren't that great but they work ok.
I need to sharpen them from time to time...
1/2" nut driver Works flawlessly to get a snug 1/4" jack. No stripping, slips or marred boxes again! You can get a set of these for not much $
Mini crescent wrench Works pretty well for DC jack nuts and pot nuts. I need to modify a nut driver to go over a pot shaft and then these will be used a lot less. 

More to come

john

[McGhie]

Funny how a certain Adam Jones sprung to mind when I read the topic headline.

[rnfr]

all right here goes:

husky mini pliers set-  6.99 home depot

for the price you just can't go wrong.  you get two  types of mini snips,  a flat pliers, a jagged pliers w/cutter, and the skinniest little needle nose you've ever seen.  the flat pliers are perfect for bending wire. the horizontal snips are cool for trimming parts off of pcb's, and i don't know what i ever did without those skinny ass needle nose.  they rule!  the snips are starting t get a little dull, but hey, look at the price.
usefullness:5
quality:3.5
overall value:4.5

xytronic 379 solder station.  49.00 on sale amazon.com

this thing is great.  heats up crazy fast, extremely well built, and i'm still on my first tip after 6 months.  you get a stand with it too. nice metal constrction. spot for a sponge, chore boy, and a little parts/water tray.  i love it.
usefullness:5
quality:5
value:5

[calpolyengineer]

Ooo my turn.

Radioshack Mini Test Clip Adapters - $3.49

In my electronics classes at school we always used these spring clips that hold themselves on to where you are testing. I found these at Radioshack the other day. They are the springclips but they just fit over regular DMM leads.



These are sooooooooo much better than alligator clips. I bought a second set to permanently attach to my audio probe.

QUALITY 4
USEFULNESS 5+
VALUE 6

-Joe

[rnfr]

i gotta get me some of those clips. haven't seen em at RShack though.  are they a new product?

[calpolyengineer]

i gotta get me some of those clips. haven't seen em at RShack though.  are they a new product?

I don't know how new they are but they are awesome. The catalog number for them is 270-334. They have them online and it also says they are available in most stores and will tell you if the store near you has them.

-Joe