TOOL REVIEWS

[John Lyons]

The alligator clip version are nice as well.
Slips over meter probe tips.
I use those for amps where I need to clip onto the side of a chassis or a larger part to measure.

[studiostud]

Here's a couple tools and a couple DIY tool ideas...

- Good wire cutters & Good wire strippers (get a pair that can go to 24/26 AWG)

- Pre-Bonded wire from SmallBear.  This stuff is fantastic because you don't have to worry about tinning it.  Works great for pot and 3PDT lugs. 

- Wilton table top rubber grip clamp


- 6" ruler is essential if you want your holes and graphics to line up nice on your enclosure

- steel wool is excellent for polishing the copper traces on PCBs before you start populating

- set of files


- small handheld butane torch.  excellent for tightening up shrinkwrap, especially in already tight places.

- BREAKOUT BOX.  I made one for testing pedals.  It's basically the standard offboard wiring layout with I/O/Power jacks, a battery snap with leads going inside, and a 3PDT stompswitch/LED.  Then I have two additional holes for wires to come though that are hooked up inside to the 3PDT lugs for the PCB in/out/ground/+9v and I have rubber covered alligator clips attached to those.  Then what I do is put single sockets in the solder points for those spots on the PCB and just stick a clipped off used component lead in them and hook the alligator clips to them.  It's been really great having it to test with, especially when I'm working on multiple pedals or multi-effects combos and don't want to put each one in a separate box to test. 

- In-line sockets.  Can be purchased at Smallbear or EffectsConnection.  These are great cause you only need to clip off as many as you need.  They work fantastically well for transistors, diodes, and any components that are highly heat sensitive like Germaniums. 

- Tackle Box.  If you are like me, you are anal-retentive about storage and organization.  I have a fairly decent size fishing tackle box that I use for component storage.  Tackle boxes work great because they are tiered shelves with lots of small compartments for holding components. 

This is the one I have:


- Swizz Army Tester.  These are great for several things.  One is obviously for cable testing if you make your own XLR / 1/4" cables.  But the main feature I use it on it is the ability to send a test tone out of any of the outputs.  So I can take a 1/4" cable from the output and go into the input of my pedal I'm testing and I have a constant tone to work with when I am audio probing.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

C.K. 'precision range' snipe nose 120mm pliers number 3772.
I don't know where mine came from - but they are the best pliers for electronic work I have ever seen. And ungodly expensive it turns out!! Currently (until end Oct 2008) on special for $A46 in Australia at Mektronics  www.mektronics.com.au
Anyone ever see any CK (German) stuff cheap, let me know - I'm in love!

At the other end of the $ range, the cheapo stainless steel dental pick set I got from one of the USA bargain mail order places is absolutely essential for reworking thru hole boards.

Most useless tool: the $50 or so IDC cable pliers. They are supposed to make it a breeze to put sockets onto ribbon cables - but they are awkward & it is impossible to hold the cable exactly at right angles (which it must be!).
After sweating & swearing for years it occurred to me to take a scrap of vero, mount two IDC box header sockets on it, and then I have a jig - i just put the IDC doohickeys on the cable, plug them into the sockets (which aligns everything perfectly) then whack them closed with a hammer. Perfect every time.

[John Lyons]

+1 on the mini-vise.
I have a Panavise with nylon jaws that swivels and angles.
Great for soldering up PCBs.

The Swiss army tester would be great for a lot of things.
I made something like that with just the jacks I use for soldering XLR, RCA, and 1/4 Plugs.
No test tones or testing but it's nice to have a solid plug holder when soldering.

john

[fogwolf]

+1 on the mini-vise.
I have a Panavise with nylon jaws that swivels and angles.
Great for soldering up PCBs.

So glad I found this. Was really starting to get sick of the alligator clips on my "helping hands" from radio shack chew up parts of my board, especially finding spots along the edges without traces so I don't chew up the copper. I'm working on a project now with the ground trace all the way around the board so was really thinking I had to do something. Just ordered one of these and the neoprene jaws!

[rnfr]

just cover the clips with some e-tape! works fine for me.  although my helping hand tool doesn't really want to stay in position very well these days...

[John Lyons]

Poor man's parts organizers.



Just use a cereal box or cracker box that you usually buy food in.
Once you finish the food you cut the box down to about 2x the height you want.
Cut the corners down to half that height and fold down and tape with packing tape.
For wide boxes you can make two rows with a center divider.
Plastic baggies can be found at hobby stores.

John

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

I have seen someone put a tiny narrow tube over the end of a jeweller's screwdriver - so that when they tweak a multi-turn trimpot, the protruding tube just fits over the adjusting screw & saves the screwdriver from sliding out. As soon as I can find the right tube, I'm doing that..

[fogwolf]

just cover the clips with some e-tape! works fine for me.  although my helping hand tool doesn't really want to stay in position very well these days...

I actually have started doing that but like you said, mine doesn't like to stay in position sometimes either - I don't feel as though I can always get the board stable enough for every position on the board that needs to be soldered - no fun soldering a component while the board starts moving under the touch of the iron. The vise was only $20 and it sounds like it'll take care of that so I figured why not.

[studiostud]

Here is a pic of the breakout box that I put together.  I just used an old BNC video switcher box that someone gave me to scrap for parts and tooled the shell and gaff taped around it to make it look a little more presentable.  Basically it's just one of the 3PDT offboard wiring layouts with alligator clips to attach to the PCB.  What I do on the PCBs is just solder wires to the points that are the right size for the enclosure I'm put it in and then hooking the alligator clips to those wires.  And in case you're wondering, I put in the extra 1/4" jacks for the wires to go through so they wouldn't be constantly rubbing against a harsh edge of the drill hole and the jacks were quick and easy to toss in instead of trying to look for some grommets. 

[davent]

Hi All,

Great idea Dragonfly! First I too am really happy with the Weller WES51. Doesn't get the workout of yours but has worked flawlessly for the past two years, tempature adjustment is quick, tips are reasonably priced, widely available and easy to change.

To help see clearly I use a desklamp with articulated arm to get light in close to the work,  a head magnifier is a big help also a magnifying glass/jewelers loupe, optical center punch for doing layouts and a dental mirror to see places otherwise invisible.



Step bits and reamers. The small step bit does holes up to 1/2" in 1/32" steps so perfect for pedals and the big one goes up to 1 3/8" for doing tube sockets. Tape has endless uses, here as drill stops.



I use mosty Teflon wire and these do a pretty good job of dealing with that. Squeeze them once, release, roll the wire 90 degrees, squeeze again and you're good to go.



Dremel with diamond cutoff wheel, slices through PCB's like a hot knife through butter. Dremel's invaluable, drilling/cutting pcb's, grinding, polishing cutting IEC socket holes in chassis' etc...



Board holder, a necessary evil, there has to a better product out there then this. Thumbscrews difficult to turn, two ball joints affected by loosening one screw equals collapse, alligator clips fall out, blah, i use it but...where's the thumbs down icon? Hemostat= soldering heatsink, soldering clamp when doing Millenium boards... Dial calipers use all the time, measuring lead diameters for drilling pcb holes, measuring  parts to figure hole sizes for enclosures. Use them when converting/sizing ExpressPCB boards from a Print Screen into actual board size. Dental pick, manipulating/fishing leads where my fingers/pliers  won't reach. Use them to clean the flux off solder joints then brush with a small, very short bristled paint brush. Good for picking foreign objects out of the dried finish on those painted boxes. Deburring tool, use it after the large stepbit in thin walled chassis'.



Cheap solder sucker works great! Engineer's square for doing layouts. This solder wick is a real tight weave and perhaps a bit heavy for pcb work, not as good as some I've used but also better then some other stuff tried. IC puller, again a cheapy, does the job but i'm sure there are better (and more expensive) ones available, wider tabs, say the width of the typical IC body i think, would make it a better product. The photo's backdrop, layout/drill guide, TurboCAD software, been using for a few years see no reason to change.



Fluke 8050A multimeter, fantastic!!!, love the look, the buttons have nice solid feel when engaging, clunk, solid little tank. Thirty dollars on ebay



Thanks
dave

[kurtlives]

Dave do you leave in Toronto? I just see that Active braid hehe...

Its great stuff, shame they started selling new stuff. I bought a ton of the kind you have, it smells great when desoldering.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

One of my most useful "tools" is a 15ml bottle of "re-grip". I think this stuff is a suspension of coarse valve grinding paste in machine oil.
Anyway, you put a drop on the tip of your screwdriver or pliers & it increases the friction by X5 or so.
Used it the other day to get a very smooth bell shaped bathroom tap cover off - without the magic, the wrench just slipped. I expect you can get equivalents anywhere.
It's so "grippy" I have used it to get out completely worn away security screws from plugpacks, just using a philips head driver!!

[Dragonfly]

LEAD BENDERS :

Cheap, and they get a TON of use here. Quickly and accurately bend leads on resistors, diodes, caps, etc to the size you need...makes layouts look great and simplifies pcb stuffing. Grab a handful of resistors, watch TV, and pre-bend them to size without even having to take your eyes off the football game !  Woo Hoo ! 

Anyway, you can find them online at various paces that sell electronics supplies...especially stuff that deals with radios and amplifiers. Mine came with a BUNCH of other tools (used) on ebay

USEFULNESS: 5
QUALITY: 5
OVERALL VALUE: 5

[Pushtone]

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.

john

Arg! Mine stopped working (getting hot) at just over a year old.
It was the ceramic heating element that went bad.
I had to pay 18.00 for a new heater assembly, and it didn't even come with a tip.

I'm feeling burned by this one! 
(pun intended)


Anyone else have to replace the ceramic heater in their iron (any make/model)?

[Pushtone]

I've posted this before but this thread shouldn't be without it.

From Radio Shack online catalog.
Mini - drill with PCB bits in handle/trace cutter/poker/scraper

Sometimes I miss a pad when drilling out the PCB.
This tool has made it easy to drill that forgotten hole without taking a half populated board to the press.

It great for poking around where your fingers cant fit, like to flick that wire out from under a pot.

The pointer is sharp hardened steel and cuts traces like butter.

It's also great used as a probe with a volt/ohm meter. I have alagator clips on the ends of my meter leads. I clip one to ground and the other to the pointer bit on the mini-drill
Then I can poke at very small areas on the board and get a good metering.

[kurtlives]

^do they sell these in Canada?

[davent]

^do they sell these in Canada?

Chris, You'll find them not far from Active Surplus at Lee Valley down on King St.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&cat=1,180,42337,41753&p=41753

I've got one of these but haven't tried it on PCB's, the Dremel is the goto tool for me.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=32297&cat=1,180,42337

Dave do you leave in Toronto? I just see that Active braid hehe...

Its great stuff, shame they started selling new stuff. I bought a ton of the kind you have, it smells great when desoldering.

I'm around the corner in Hamilton but was in T.O. a couple weeks ago and get there whenever i can. Another really good shop you have is Honson Computer up at College and Spadina. It's now in the Home Hardware (and used to be almost beside Active, it's formerly Supremetronics). Great source for caps, resistors, transistors, IC's, sockets, etc......

Take care
dave

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

A 20c (or more likely free!) 'tool' I'd hate to be without: chunk of foam.
Put the components in the board.. put the foam chunk on top of the board.. invert.. now the legs are poking up & none of the components can fall out.
OK, for a few hundred bucks you can buy a commercial version, with rails that hold a bunch of PCBs in at the same time.
But, I prefer my single chunk of foam.

[nordine]

yeahm i really liked Aenima