On Sunday 30 March 2008 1:50:29 pm Scott McDowell wrote: > Here is a tip that some of you might want to try when building kits and > trying to cut off a component lead in close quarters. > Like when putting components on the bottom of the board and soldering on > the top. > I learned it as a farm boy back in the 30's when we couldn't afford a pair > of pliers for cutting wire. > After you solder the component lead, take a pair of long nose pliers, catch > the end of the lead and bend it back and > forth five or six times and it will break off at the top of the solder > joint. Just be sure to keep tension on the lead while > bending it. > I didn't learn it building radios, it was fences! > Am building my second K2 and just remembered breaking wire that way.
That's a great way to fracture the solder joint and cause future problems with intermittent connections. Never flex the component lead to break it off. Get a proper reduced space close cutting tool. There are a variety of these made for just such a purpose. They do not stress the solder joint when cutting off the excess component lead length. Some will capture the cut off component lead to avoid having it fly off somewhere to cause a failure later if you don't find it. Rick Kunath, k9ao _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] 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
