Wow, that Weller unit is very nice. I may have to try that path again.
^ Most of the time for quick stuff... same... methods as you. When I did the F5m I had the boards soldered before I would have had my full kit out for doing some things. Insert part... bend... solder... wash, rinse, repeat.
I guess I could mention for those keeping score at home... this is one of the reasons that it's recommended to solder "shortest to tallest" when doing through hole work.
I guess I could mention for those keeping score at home... this is one of the reasons that it's recommended to solder "shortest to tallest" when doing through hole work.
I have a few thoughts on that with build guide stuff. Applies more to "kits" that are just an bag of parts all together, than to ones that divide up separate bags for separate sections. F5m has so few parts....
Russellc
Russellc
I really should upgrade my parts/board holder situation. I have a pair of these and they're slightly better than nothing most of the time... sometimes I wonder how far I could throw them
^ FWIW... if you got that off of Amazon... for a relative steal... I have the same one. I added some weight to the base. It kept tipping over on me. That's the exact one I grab when I solder wire to a jack or similar...
I have one from Radio Shack that's virtually an antique at this point and one off of Amazon that I've had for at least a dozen years. The magnifier frame broke on the old one many years ago and that bare 2.5" lens is like an old friend. It travels in my pocket on hikes and lives on my work bench. Very few days go by that I don't use it... so, I guess I'd have to suggest that a hand lens is a super helpful bit of gear to have around.
If we're talking about something that holds a PCB so that you can populate it easily, in the second picture, that PanaVise accessory has proven to be extremely useful for my projects. I'm able to load both left and right channel PCB's (usually), and just tack solder components from the top. Slide boards out, flip over, re-insert, finish the job..
What I find need for is something to hold small parts while soldering or in this case desoldering 🙁. From the searching that I've done and the replies it appears I will have to improvise, it is DIY after all.
Desoldering at home can be a little tricky. How much depends on what exactly you are trying to do, what equipment is available, and the skill / experience / knowledge of the individual. At the most basic level, you can almost get by with a "Engineer Solder Suction Device SS-02" (less than $20), and some solder wick most of the time (I have size #3 and #5). If you don't care about saving the part you just cut the thing off, extract the loose legs (tweezers / iron), and clear the holes. Saving a part can be easy or somewhat difficult, just depends on what it is. A part will basically fall out if you can manage to reach the melting point of the solder on all legs at the same time. And there are tricks for doing that in most cases. If you get good at it you can normally do the operation without overheating and damaging the component. I've seen some pretty good videos on youtube showing some clever techniques.
I have the magnetic plate with accessories and I have only used it for 3 boards, so not much to compare to. So far I like it though, particularly the clamp gripper you see holding the board in the photo. Makes stuffing top, then flip over to solder bottome pretty easy. No size restrictions like the spinal design you see in the bottom that squeezed from edges of board.
Not cheap thought. I paid $60, or so, shipped.
I'm using my benchtop as third hand, and I'm pretty happy how big it is
FW, as proudly declared, started as Kitchen-table endeavor
Though, for same sort of outcome, one must be worthy of Boss of Jill's caliber
Though, for same sort of outcome, one must be worthy of Boss of Jill's caliber
Thought it would be worth adding a comment about solder. Based on the replies to my post re. Silver solder and personal experience using a few different solders, as well as Papa's opinion that 60/40 works well, I strongly suggest a solder like the Kester that @rhthatcher recommended. Much lower melting temp makes it so much easier to work with and it works well without flux, a big plus.
you must decide what are you - novice, or someone with enough mileage to write anything having "strongly suggest" in sentence
now, matter of formulation - "... and it works well without flux, a big plus."
missing word (or not) - "additional"
if you ask anyone who did soldering as part of daily job for any longer period, you'll get replay that any solder wire which needs additional flux application to enable proper soldering (except in extreme case of soldering subpar quality elements as lousy fat wire etc.) is simply POS
reality is that anyone who have a mileage and is not forced to use lead-free soldering wire (from any reason) is simply using good old lead based solder wires, with or without some Cu ...... and every good old solder wire is having rosin core
period. no possible exceptions - simply because exceptions (wire without rosin core) are really intended for different applications
as I said - there are much more useful topics worthy of obsessing
soldering is important, but really basic thing anyone wanting to do some electronics must learn how to do
now, matter of formulation - "... and it works well without flux, a big plus."
missing word (or not) - "additional"
if you ask anyone who did soldering as part of daily job for any longer period, you'll get replay that any solder wire which needs additional flux application to enable proper soldering (except in extreme case of soldering subpar quality elements as lousy fat wire etc.) is simply POS
reality is that anyone who have a mileage and is not forced to use lead-free soldering wire (from any reason) is simply using good old lead based solder wires, with or without some Cu ...... and every good old solder wire is having rosin core
period. no possible exceptions - simply because exceptions (wire without rosin core) are really intended for different applications
as I said - there are much more useful topics worthy of obsessing
soldering is important, but really basic thing anyone wanting to do some electronics must learn how to do
yeah, but cluttering the Forum with so basic stuff (when one can find all answers on ootoobe or anywhere else) is much lesser fun than even most brainless fun
see Da Pub - no need to be technical at all ......... but we had some very useful/important technical things solved there
so, even brainless fun can be technical
see Da Pub - no need to be technical at all ......... but we had some very useful/important technical things solved there
so, even brainless fun can be technical