We've got a tech who is amazing with a soldering iron. He has two very nice soldering irons on the bench next to him at all times. All this guy does is work magic with a soldering iron all day long...
His two irons are one with a bit of a cup in the end of the tip (for holding solder) and the other is a smaller pencil type. If he simply wants to remove a small 2 in SMT component he just sets the largest tip over the top of the part and then slides it off the pads. The only time he uses both irons is if he needs to reuse that SMT component. If he's doing that he then just uses the two irons and simply picks the component up with the irons (one in each hand) that way the tweezers aren't needed... Just a few other thoughts... ~BTH On Mon, 2010-02-01 at 07:13 -0800, David Windisch wrote: > It's a process, it's easier than you think, and there is plenty of room for > creativity. I don't pretend to know it all; this works for me. > > BASICS: > > Light up the work area. > > Get comfortable seating. > > Buy a pull-down magnifier. Don't skimp here. I use OPTI-VISOR, 3X lenses. > Buy 2 of the physically-smallest low-power soldering pencils. > Buy a *large* decorative clothes pin. > Buy various-length, variously-shaped stainless tweezers. > > Attach the pencils to the clothes pin. Hose-clamps? > Shim the jaws open so the pencil-tips get proper spacing to (just) clear the > device, or a skosh less to grab it. > > OPTIONAL: Take a dose of your favorite relaxation agent <grin>. > > Take your time. Practice on junk boards: heat, tweeze, pluck. > > Now you can remove any smt you can get this contraption on to. > > Ymmv. No pics available. I'm omitting the green stuff and presenting only > basics. Real tools cost BIG bucks. > > Brgds, Dave, W8FGX ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html