Don't know if it saves much time but it produces pretty consistent results.
(http://madbeanpedals.com/misc/pancake.gif)
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.
I just bend them over and cut them short after they are soldered. Is that a bad/rookie way to do it?
I just use an index card (or something similar) to temporarily hold my parts while I invert the board onto my work surface.
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
I use scotch tape to hold resistors/diodes in place. Then, bluetak for the caps.
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.
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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Quote from: jimilee on October 21, 2018, 07:48:59 PM
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
Quote from: jimilee on October 21, 2018, 07:48:59 PM
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). ;D
Aven 17010 Adjustable Circuit Board Holder: best $12 my sister ever spent on me.
Mmmmm, donuts....
Where did you get the cool nippers? I assume you hold them underhand so you cut the leads pointing up?
Quote from: Aentons on October 21, 2018, 05:55:04 PM
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
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
Quote from: Aentons on October 21, 2018, 05:55:04 PM
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.
If I need to remove solder from a hole, I hold the board up high, dip my iron in some flux and heat the board from underneath. Gravity is my solder sucker.
We talked about a solder bath at one point, but it never seemed like a good option since there are pot/wire holes that would get solder in them.
EBK,
I'll try it.
-Mike
Typo'd from my iphone
Quote from: pickdropper on October 21, 2018, 11:51:17 PM
Quote from: Aentons on October 21, 2018, 05:55:04 PM
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.
All I can see in my minds eye is that pic. You know the one I'm talking about.
-M
Typo'd from my iphone
Quote from: madbean on October 22, 2018, 12:04:01 AM
We talked about a solder bath at one point, but it never seemed like a good option since there are pot/wire holes that would get solder in them.
Plus, you wouldn't want the boards to get all pruney. ;)
I slightly bend the leads "outward" to keep the parts from falling out. I place like 8-10 parts at a time, then solder just one side of each part (or the center lead of a transistor). Then I flip the board back over and make sure alignment is good, etc. If I need to adjust, it's easier if only one side is soldered. Then I flip back over and solder the other side. Goes pretty fast once you get used to it.
I just take every part on the BOM, bend all the leads, put them in a paper bag with the PCB and shake it like crazy until every hole on the board has a lead in it and then I solder it all up and add some wires. Works like a charm.
Anarchist!
Actually I use blu-tack to hold stuff really straight and do a few components at a time. Lately I've been doing like CJ and soldering one leg on each component first, flipping to check that parts are lined up, and tacking down the other side. I enjoy the slow pace for some reason.
I tried that and it would take a whole day to populate a moderately complex board. Keep in mind I'm slow to begin with.
Then I tried populating everything of a similar height and just used painters tape to secure everything and just rotated the PCB in the in the vise and soldered them. While fast it does not look very pretty the way I did it.
That's when I switched to the tape and blu-tack combo. It takes a little longer than just flipping it in the vise, because you take a little time to press the tack into the nooks and crannies. However, you don't get blu-tack on anything as once you flip it over and place it on the work surface, then you can really press down and get everything right snug to the PCB. You can also adjust all of the dead cockroach legs to make sure they are straight up and down before you solder.
As I solder I bend the leads towards me of the ones I've already soldered. This allows access to the next row and you can pretty much work your was across the entire board.
Everybody is different, but I actually get better results in a shorter amount of time.
-M
Hi Brian
Any reason you dont just solder from the component side? If the holes are through plated it should be the same as soldering from the underside?
Thanks Peter
Weird, I thought everybody bent the leads and then flipped it over. The only time I use poster tack on the topside is on IC sockets and similar, stuff that you can't bend leads on to keep them in place when you flip the board.
Fun to see how many different ways there are of doing this.
Quote from: sjaustin on October 22, 2018, 11:19:02 AM
Weird, I thought everybody bent the leads and then flipped it over. The only time I use poster tack on the topside is on IC sockets and similar, stuff that you can't bend leads on to keep them in place when you flip the board.
Fun to see how many different ways there are of doing this.
Same here
Quote from: Leevibe on October 22, 2018, 03:45:56 AM
Actually I use blu-tack to hold stuff really straight and do a few components at a time. Lately I've been doing like CJ and soldering one leg on each component first, flipping to check that parts are lined up, and tacking down the other side. I enjoy the slow pace for some reason.
Quote from: culturejam on October 22, 2018, 02:16:36 AM
I slightly bend the leads "outward" to keep the parts from falling out. I place like 8-10 parts at a time, then solder just one side of each part (or the center lead of a transistor). Then I flip the board back over and make sure alignment is good, etc. If I need to adjust, it's easier if only one side is soldered. Then I flip back over and solder the other side. Goes pretty fast once you get used to it.
What's all this alignment business!... Are we talking a presentation/neatness type thing or have I been missing something?
Quote from: EBK on October 21, 2018, 11:53:57 PM
If I need to remove solder from a hole, I hold the board up high, dip my iron in some flux and heat the board from underneath. Gravity is my solder sucker.
Haha.... brilliant. As long as I avoid dripping hot solder on my $#@π
Quote from: Aentons on October 22, 2018, 12:03:15 PM
What's all this alignment business!... Are we talking a presentation/neatness type thing or have I been missing something?
Yeah. It's just for looks. Dropping the parts through and bending the leads works just fine. Best practice is to clip before you solder to avoid cracking the joint but I don't even worry about that.
Quote from: Leevibe on October 22, 2018, 02:58:33 PM
Yeah. It's just for looks. Dropping the parts through and bending the leads works just fine.
Phew... thanks.
Quote from: Leevibe on October 22, 2018, 02:58:33 PM
Best practice is to clip before you solder to avoid cracking the joint but I don't even worry about that.
I do, do that... I was delirious, I meant I cut them
after before I solder.
yes I said do doedit: damnit, I somehow did it again