Tuesday, March 29th, 2016
kevinhub88 over at the Black Mesa Labs writes: Black Mesa Labs has been using a $20 hot plate for a year now for soldering QFN ICs to PCBs. Only issue so far has been the size ( 10″x10″x3″ ) and thermal mass of the thing as it consumes precious microscope work area...Tags: pcb, SMT Assembly, tools
Posted in Arduino | 3 Comments »
Monday, November 16th, 2015
Tom Keddie writes, "On the last hacker camp I picked up a magnifier with HDMI output on Taobao (or more expensive but no airfare needed 14MP HDMI HD Microscope USB Industrial Camera 180X C mount Lens Stereo Stand) I find myself needing to peer into and under packages a lot,...Tags: magnifier, pcb, tools
Posted in tools | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 4th, 2015
Diyouware TwinTeeth, an open-source PCB mini-factory : It includes the following functions: UV Laser photoengraving on sensitive film or presensitized boards using an ultraviolet laser. Drilling vias and holes using any mini-rotary tool like Dremel® or Proxxon® Dispensing solder paste with precision on SMD PCB pads Plotting circuits with a...Tags: Arduino, pcb, tools
Posted in hacks, open source | 2 Comments »
Monday, October 13th, 2014
sparkybg writes, "HAKKO T12, JBC C210, JBC Microtweezer on my latest universal soldering controller" Via the project log forum.Tags: Hakko, T12, test, tools
Posted in project logs | No Comments »
Thursday, August 14th, 2014
Doub has announced the release of the Aperture scripting, a set of Lua libraries to manipulate PCB data files. He writes: At the core of my Gerber Viewer (that you've made quite popular, thank you all), there's always been a set of Lua libraries to load the Gerber and...Tags: gerber, tools
Posted in library, PCBs | 1 Comment »
Saturday, June 28th, 2014
Eric has posted details on his build of a CNC mill from scratch. The ThrAxis (Three-Axis) is a vertical milling machine made mostly from materials from hardware stores. The spindle is a Harbor Freight rotary tool and the motors and controllers are surplus and eBay finds. We made it during...Tags: CNC mill, tools
Posted in DIY, Global Geek, project logs, Sick of Beige | 3 Comments »
Thursday, May 22nd, 2014
An open source PCB ruler by Hemal Chevli, that is available at Github: PCB ruler with different foot prints ,SMD proto-typing area, tables, various AWG size holes and inches and cm scale.Tags: PCB ruler, tools
Posted in open source, PCBs | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 21st, 2014
Alan Parekh of Hacked Gadgets writes: Thanks to Black and Decker for sending in this Gyro Screwdriver for review, you can see the review here. In this article we are going to tear into it and see what we have on the inside. Opening the unit was very simple since...Tags: review, screwdriver, tools
Posted in Teardowns | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 20th, 2014
Carlazar posted pictures of his simple soldering iron driver (SSID) with Arduino PID control in the project log forum: Main features are: - Any thermocouple type irons. - Additional control mode: On-Off controller (besides PID PWM). - External power supply: Some standard Notebook power supply DC 19V, 4.74A. - Small...Tags: Arduino, soldering iron, tools
Posted in project logs | 6 Comments »
Monday, March 31st, 2014
Chuck of LinearLogiX writes: We bought the TM240A and found it works pretty good for our needs. A couple items I found was that using the SMD type tant caps on a reel, I had to actually Grind the side to open width so the plastic holder would fit. As you can see...Tags: SMD, tools
Posted in components | Comments Off on Experience with the TM240A pick and place
Tuesday, August 27th, 2013
Isonno posted his Color Meter in the project forum: It's a digital meter for measuring color; either the reflected color of solid object, or emitted light. It works, but the original goal was to measure/calibrate the output of RGB LEDs driven by PWM, but that didn't work out so well. Via...Tags: measurement, tools
Posted in project logs | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 14th, 2013
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIRLY3VNNVw[/embed] After you've dispensed solder paste it's time to reflow all that solder. This is where the reflow oven comes in. It seems like reflow hot plates are a more popular choice in most small shops because they're smaller, cheaper, and it's easier to monitor the reflow process. A reflow...Tags: infrared reflow oven, qinsi, qs-5100, reflow oven, tools, Workshop Video
Posted in tools, Videos | 23 Comments »
Thursday, February 7th, 2013
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3-y1RjxD1E[/embed] Without a doubt the solder paste dispenser is a cool tool. Compressed air hisses and solenoids crackle while precise amounts of solder paste extrude into beautiful droplets on a PCB. A few minutes with a paste dispenser saves $15-$25 (or more) on stencils, a life saver if you want...Tags: tools, Workshop Video
Posted in Videos | 38 Comments »
Thursday, January 31st, 2013
We received tools and tested the reflow oven and hot plate. Added a tools section to the forum, you can get the PDF versoin of the reflow oven manual there. The workshop video of the tool unboxing was made. We purchased an air-compressor for the solder paste dispenser, and got...Tags: bus pirate v4, firmware, tools, Workshop Update
Posted in Workshop Update | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 31st, 2013
If you're like us then your desk is always a total mess of microcontroller programmers, prototype PCBs, wires, tools, etc... This article covers a few tips and tricks on how to tidy up your workspace. While the article is written for heavier tools and equipment than what we use, there...Thursday, January 31st, 2013
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i_sLIvSaKw[/embed] Unboxing a shipment of tools we sent back from hua qiang bei electronics market in Shenzhen, China. We got a test rig which will help us standardize manufacture testing for our boards. We got two tools for solderpaste reflowing, one is a digitally controlled hot plate, and the other...Tags: shippment, tools, Workshop Video
Posted in Videos | 11 Comments »
Monday, October 15th, 2012
The "I just bought this, and you what did you buy ?" thread is picking up steam. Hak8or's latest grab is a AmScope SE400 series stereo microscope. It seems to be a popular choice for a good ~$200 microscope, as JuKu, and Matseng have these as well. Got some gear...Tags: Stereo Scope, tools
Posted in tools | No Comments »
Friday, October 5th, 2012
Forum regular Bearmos gave us a tour of his workshop and shows off several DIY tools. Check out the pictures below the fold. A thrown together workbench (in use for ~ 6 years now. originally built using an upturned recycling bin as a saw horse). I need to cut a...Tags: DIY, tools, workshop
Posted in DIY, tools | 3 Comments »
Friday, January 20th, 2012
Voidptr started a thread about the latest electronics gizmo you acquired. Post your latest components, tools, or anything else electronics-related you bought or salvaged recently.Tags: components, forum, tools
Posted in components | 18 Comments »
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
Steve Hoefer from Grathio Labs has a nice how to on marking your tools. This covers both marking for preventing mixed up tools as well as marking to recover stolen tools. Both of these things seem to be good ideas as more and more of us work together at community workshops and...Tags: marking, tools
Posted in how-to | No Comments »
