FB bz! Do yourself a favor and never clip a lead so it flies loose (into the carpet or anywhere else). Not only can they get poked into bare feet (or into animal's stomachs), sooner or later one will find your eye, even around the glasses in some cases (assuming you wear glasses). I clip leads single-handedly, but use my index finger to hold the loose end of the lead against the cutters while it's being clipped so it doesn't go anywhere. Then I put it in a little tray (jar lid, etc.) in case I need it later for a ground tie point or jumper. Dump the tray when it's full.
I have found that if one simply bends the leads smoothly to right angles to the body of resistors, diodes and chokes, they fit right into the holes. No jig used or needed. When one doesn't fit by doing that, it's normally mentioned in the text that it needs to have the leads formed to fit. Be very careful of that Radio Shack desoldering tool! The ones I've seen are not temperature controlled or grounded! The temperature will easily and quickly debond any traces the iron is used on. If you use it on the little round pad on the not-trace side of a board, you'll probably find the round pad and perhaps the plated-through hole on the iron after desoldering a pad. There's a very good reason why the spring-loaded solder sucker is recommended! Of course, a properly grounded and temperature-controlled desoldering tool is also good, but their price and the ease of using a less-expensive tool makes them more of a luxury than a necessity. Very few parts need to be held while they are installed: headers for shorting blocks and i.c.s for example. Normally, just spreading the leads of caps, resistors, etc. where they exit the board holds the part just fine. The don't need to be spread tightly to parallel with the board either. Just angled a bit. If spread too much, they can be hard to remove if that ever becomes necessary. Not having to hold the part ensures that it will remain still while the solder cools avoiding cold joints caused by movement. When the part must be held, such as a relay or i.c., I always "tack-solder" one or two pins first, while holding the part. Then I double-check the orientation, etc. before soldering the rest of the pins without touching the part. When that's done, I go back and reflow the pins I tack-soldered to ensure they're soldered right. How do you use hemostats on toroids? For winding, snugging each turn against the core as I add it has always produced a clean, smooth wind for me. Remember, it is NOT necessary for no gap at all to show between the winding and the core. Pulling on the leads IS an easy way to break the wire <G>. I install them like any other leaded part, being careful not to pull the leads too tight through the solder pads. Plenty of light and good vision are important. I prefer binocular magnifiers that fit on my head. I don't have to bring the work to the magnifier that way. Ron AC7AC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
