Here's a tip for beginners and veterans. I saw somewhere that someone was using Blu-tack to hold parts in place.
I found some Loctite Fun-Tak for a couple of bucks at the local walmart and picked it up. It works great for holding that odd shaped
component on the parts side while you solder on the other side. Before this, I was using scotch tape which could be hard to work with.
Now, the fun-tak is just sticky enough and reuseable. I've been soldering for years and years and never picked up on this tip.
( probably because I learned to solder before blu-tack was invented ... man, I'm old :) )
For many components, such as resistors and caps with long leads, I still just bend the leads at an angle to hold them in place. The fun-tak
works really well for things like IC sockets and SIP sockets. Stuff with leads to short to bend.
Very cool! I bought some alligator clips at Walmart that work well too.
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The fun-tak is also called earthquake tape around different forums. And it's works great when you forget to put 914's in before resistors along with anything you want to lock down while soldering.
I thought the Loctite Fun-Tak was the oft talked-about Blu-tak? The Loctite sticky stuff I've been using since I read about Blu-tak on here is even blue.
I keep mine in an old plastic Easter-egg shell when I'm not using it, sort of like silly putty.
I use the Elmers equivalent of Blu-Tac.
It's great for holding parts for soldering,
esp for small stuff when doing re-work on a crowded board.