Homebrew PCBs

My ASCII art obviously wasn't adequate, judging by the number of people
e-mailing me for more details :-), so I have put a picture on the web.  It
is at:  http://www.speleogroup.org/SMD-holder.jpg

It's simply a length of 'coat hanger' or similar wire, attached to a block
of scrap wood by a screw.   The photo shows it being used to hold a
capacitor to a PCB for soldering, leaving both hands free for solder & iron.
All the components on the board (see:
http://www.speleogroup.org/attinya.html for a close-up picture of a slightly
later version of the board) were soldered this way.

Mike Cowlishaw

i think with that wire and that tip it is quite difficult to hold down a 
0805 case?
or do you hold it on one end of the case while soldering the free one?
there are two small resistors on the headlight board so it must work 
somehow...


i like the idea because it is so simple.

regards
st


On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 21:09:08 +0100, Mike Cowlishaw <mfcowli@...> 
wrote:

> My ASCII art obviously wasn't adequate, judging by the number of people
> e-mailing me for more details :-), so I have put a picture on the web.  
> It
> is at:  http://www.speleogroup.org/SMD-holder.jpg
>
> It's simply a length of 'coat hanger' or similar wire, attached to a 
> block
> of scrap wood by a screw.   The photo shows it being used to hold a
> capacitor to a PCB for soldering, leaving both hands free for solder & 
> iron.
> All the components on the board (see:
> http://www.speleogroup.org/attinya.html for a close-up picture of a 
> slightly
> later version of the board) were soldered this way.
>
> Mike Cowlishaw
>
>
>
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Bookmarks and files:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> Homebrew_PCBs-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

Mike Cowlishaw wrote:
> It's simply a length of 'coat hanger' or similar wire, attached to a block
> of scrap wood by a screw.   The photo shows it being used to hold a
> capacitor to a PCB for soldering, leaving both hands free for solder & iron.

Looks simple to make. Thanks for the photo.
I will make one of these tools when I start my next SMD project.
I've actualy got a bunch of 1.0 mm spring wire laying around 
somewhere.

> i think with that wire and that tip it is quite difficult to hold
> down a 0805 case?
> or do you hold it on one end of the case while soldering the free one?

Yes, that's the idea.   With the small devices, I place and solder one end
of all of them, using the hold-down wire.   Then I just use the hold-down
to steady the PCB while solder the other ends of all the devices.

> there are two small resistors on the headlight board so it must work
> somehow...

Yes, no problems with 0603 devices. I haven't tried smaller than that.

It's helpful to file the end of the wire square.  If pointed it could
perhaps damage or tip the component instead of holding it flat against
the board.

Mike Cowlishaw

>> It's simply a length of 'coat hanger' or similar wire, attached to a
>> block
>> of scrap wood by a screw.   The photo shows it being used to hold a
>> capacitor to a PCB for soldering, leaving both hands free for solder
>> & iron.
> 
> Looks simple to make. Thanks for the photo.
> I will make one of these tools when I start my next SMD project.
> I've actualy got a bunch of 1.0 mm spring wire laying around
> somewhere.

You're welcome.  Let us know how it works for you...

I'm now an SMD convert; it's so much faster to assemble a board
like this than to use through-hole...

Mike Cowlishaw

Mike Cowlishaw wrote:
> You're welcome.  Let us know how it works for you...
> 
> I'm now an SMD convert; it's so much faster to assemble a board
> like this than to use through-hole...
> 

I'm a SMD convert too :). Even with the small amount of practice 
so far, I'm finding it a lot better overall to build home 
projects in SMD. Honestly, I don't understand why it is taking so 
long for the hobby store retailers to catch on with SMD, well at 
least in Australia.