This works, I guess

[madbean]

Don't know if it saves much time but it produces pretty consistent results.

[jubal81]

Pretty slick indeed. I'll have to give this a try.


I've been tack soldering my resistors on the top. Doesn't take all that long. Still using the blue putty to hold caps, though.

[Aentons]

I just bend them over and cut them short after they are soldered. Is that a bad/rookie way to do it?

[EBK]

I just use an index card (or something similar) to temporarily hold my parts while I invert the board onto my work surface. 

[Ekimneets]

That's similar to what I do.

Once I get my resistors in place I take blue painters tape and cover the entire board to protect the resistors.

Then I take a sheet of blue tack and press it down very firmly on top.

Then take it out of the vice and carefully turn it over.

Then I press it down on my work table.

I then start soldering what is accessible and bend the leads over is I'm going.

You can do an entire board that way.

Work great.

-M


Typo'd from my iphone

[somnif]

I use scotch tape to hold resistors/diodes in place. Then, bluetak for the caps.

[Rockhorst]

I just bend all the leads flat to the board these days, clip 'em and solder in place. The exception is parts that I expect might be swapped out later (mods and stuff). I've seen that used on professional board dozens of times, so thought "why not". But this is probably equally fast.

[jimilee]

Holy hell man, I've been building for 5 years and this is the first time I've ever seen this or anything like it. Got any more incredible helpful information that has never been mentioned before?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ekimneets]

Holy hell man, I've been building for 5 years and this is the first time I've ever seen this or anything like it. Got any more incredible helpful information that has never been mentioned before?


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I thought about this the other day.

Some ppl like to twist their wires and it's hard to get it perfect by hand.

If you want it perfect then chuck up the ends of your wires. Then hold the other end and go slow to medium.

You will have perfectly twisted wires.

-M


Typo'd from my iphone

[EBK]

Holy hell man, I've been building for 5 years and this is the first time I've ever seen this or anything like it. Got any more incredible helpful information that has never been mentioned before?

The most major holy hell awesome tool reveals I've experienced while building over the past few years have been step drill bits, flush cutters, blue tack, and the automatic center punch.  You can do some fun stuff with JB Weld too (like filling misplaced drill holes and making donuts). 

[sjaustin]

Aven 17010 Adjustable Circuit Board Holder: best $12 my sister ever spent on me.

[gordo]

Mmmmm, donuts....

Where did you get the cool nippers?  I assume you hold them underhand so you cut the leads pointing up?

[Ekimneets]

I just bend them over and cut them short after they are soldered. Is that a bad/rookie way to do it?

Nothing wrong with that all, I still use that method at times. It's more about what works for you.

-Mike


Typo'd from my iphone

[Ekimneets]

This may only be germaine to me, but I've got a tremor and it's not uncommon for me to get a little happy w/the solder and fill up an adjacent hole.

I've got a super sucker and copper ribbon. Honestly, what works best is to ream it out with a PCB drill.

Allrght, I can see you cringing.


I take some precautions. Obviously the OD of the drill needs to be less than that of the hole. You need to be somewhat centered and it helps if the filled up hole you're working with is a little concave.

I just get myself into trouble often and have had to learn to get myself out of it.

-Mike




Typo'd from my iphone

[pickdropper]

I just bend them over and cut them short after they are soldered. Is that a bad/rookie way to do it?

That's actually the more mechanically reliable way to do it.  You can always get a job soldering parts for NASA if you get tired of building pedals.  ;-)

The only downside is that the parts are a bit harder to remove if you need to rework them.