Build Your Own Clone Message Board

What!?! How do they get those prices?

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Kinda weird but works great for cleaning up leads gets in nice and close and cuts them off without much movement on the soldered joints.

Static will kill a lot of mosfet transistors etc.
Ever notice how styrofoam is supper static prone?!
Zzzzzzt!
EDIT: Oops already been said.

Work well for sorting resistors and diodes though.

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Basic Audio Pedals

I got a pair similar to these that were Bausch and Lomb. They came with 3 lenses and list for around $40, but you can get them for free.

I got them for free by signing up for an Amazon Credit card that has a $40 credit on your first purchase, so I signed up. Well, they were almost free...I had to pay around $5 for shipping. These things are well worth the investment even if they are not free.

Just used a crest spin brush dipped in isopropyl alcohol to clean all gunk off my soldering joints. Someone kindly pointed out that it looked like someone sneezed on my board so I figured I'd give it a shot. It worked awesome. Try it.

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Haha - that was me! Glad it worked! For some reason a toothbrush with alcohol to clean off a board has eluded me. A spinbrush - now you're talkin!

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µ

Ya I wasn't going to name any names but... Now all I have to do is figure out how to get that pedal working.

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For drilling enclosures, I've started to really like Dewalt's Pilot Point bits. They have a smaller tip at the beginning so you don't need to drill a pilot hole. Even the 1/2" bit can fit in a 3/8" chuck. They also cut cleaner than the step bits. They're a bit more expensive than a standard bit, but they're worth it.

Get a set of helping hands......with or without a magnifier. Very useful when soldering. Also, a decent size vice has innumerable applications....

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I saw your post, ordered one, and just received it today. I fired up the soldering iron so I could give it a try. It looks like it's going to work great!

I ordered mine from newark.com, as they had a 10% off code on their website the other day. It shipped from MCM Electronics though. I saved about $5 ordering from Newark instead, which basically paid for a pack of extra filters.

I went out to Harbor Freight today to get a few things. Since I don't have a pair of propper wire strippers, I decided to see what good ol' Harbor Freight had to offer. I came across these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/5-inch-wir ... 36901.html



For $1.99, they do a pretty damn good job! Perfect for the DIYers, like me, who are on a budget!

Cheers,
Jason

One of the most useful tools I have is a probe with a flexible lead ending in an alligator clip. The body of the probe contains 2 x AA cells and a low voltage filament lightbulb. When you place a low resistance path between the probe point and the alligator clip the lightbulb lights up. This is by far the simplest and clearest way of indicating continuity. Not only can you use it to check things like switches and wire runs, but you can safely use it to test LEDs (yup LEDs - wrong way round and they aren't stressed with too high a voltage, the right way round both the LED and the lightbulb glow at a safe current and you know which lead on the LED is the anode), small motors, headphones and loudspeakers.

You used to able to find such probes in hardware stores. Mine is pretty old and I have repaired it several times.

Every time I go to the dentist (twice a year), I ask him if he has any old dental tools that he is disposing of. I have gotten several old picks, scrapers, etc. that are really helpful with removing solder, etc. And the price can't be beat!

I've also had this for a few years, and it is awesome.

Holy cow; this is a great thread. I'm awaiting my first kits and in working through my practice kit I see where all this will help a lot. Adding a wire bridge is a bear, but the forceps, which I have from my EMT days, it is simple. I've found one of those little off-balance magnifier & clip PCB holders to be pretty decent to start, although I have to hold it up with my pinky on the solder hand, but that makes it kind of easy to move it slightly for better lighting. Thanks all for the great ideas!

If you run Linux there are some great software tools available for free!

I use the Jack / ALSA Audio Analyser - for a signal generator and wave analyser. With the white noise output you can easily plot filter frequency responses.
Oregano or LTSpice (LTSpice is Windows and I think Mac, but it runs fine on Linux under Wine) - Circuit simulation - brilliant - no more breadboarding, just try designs out in virtuality.
gEDA or KiCAD - schematics and PCB layout.
Xoscope - rudimentary oscilloscope.
LibreOffice Calc - spreadsheet prog - great for tabulating and plotting test results.

This is not so much a tool as having the proper setting to work in. Not shown; shop area with drill press & others, paint station & oven in the garage, and the all critical vinyl station for uncompressed mood setting. I mean you make effects that cost more as a kit than the store bought versions and you're going to listen to 128 kbs mp3's?
I use the heat gun to help dry overcoats as any time in the toaster oven seems to brown the decals. The R2D2 thing is an air filter/fan, pulls in right at table level. I use one of those little clip grips with the magnifier, which is folded down to support the grip thing and use a $10 headgear with LED from Harbor Freight. My better iron fell apart so I use a $5 elenco iron which is a bit blunt but does the trick.

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Yup 3rd hand type jigs are very handy.

But how about insulated wire where the insulation doesn't run like candle wax if you even show it a soldering iron.
I scored some reels of government surplus, PTFE insulated, silver stranded wire many, many years ago and have been using it ever since. You do need special wire strippers to get the insulation off, but you can cook it all day with an iron and the insulation does not melt.

I bet builders would love BYOC even more if they could source some hook-up wire with insulation that does not melt quite so easily.

What's in the egg cartons?

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Eggs, duh.



Just a heads up, I got a pair of those for my first wire strippers and they wear out incredibly quickly. Maybe mine were just junk, but it happened pretty damn quick for me.

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Personally I find those simple strippers are pretty horrible. They are a bit tricky to adjust for different wire sizes and tend to cut through wire strands as well as insulation. They go blunt then the pivot loosens and they get worse. That pair doesn't even seem to have a spring to hold them open so you'd have to open and close them with the fingers.

surprised no-one's mentioned a tool for desoldering...whether fixing a mistake or modding a stock part, I've found this tool to be essential

From radio shack


I've tried the braid, the stand-alone red pump, and a blue pump w/ spring mechanism (this works second best) but they all pale in comparison
Heat it up, pop this over the tiny lead, and suck that solder away

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I'd have to say one of my favorite (and simplest tools) is a really good pair of multimeter leads. The set I used has a interchangeable tips. Using these things with the pogo pin tips makes troubleshooting a lot nicer as the tips are fine enough to get into tight spaces and the pogo hold contact for you without applying too much force.