DIY soldering tweezer controller?

[Martinn]

Hi all,
I am going to upgrade my soldering tools with a JBC T210+station and I'd also like some soldering tweezers (for microscope work, mostly 0402 or 0603). However, as I don't need them very often I am reluctant to spend another 600-700 for the tweezers.
Are there any working and fully published controllers for soldering tweezers? There are countless DIY JBC or Weller projects, but almost all are in a state "firmware needs work", "parameters need tuning" or "maybe an ADS1234 would be better". The only (as it seems) finished and fully working project I am aware of is this one
http://kair.us/projects/weller/index.html
which unfortunately uses an unobtainium processor (and Weller tips, which is fine for me as I find JBC micro and nano tweezers somewhat wobbly). It seems the Chinese also love JBC as stations, soldering irons and tips are pirated to death and even DIY kits with controllers are available for next to nothing on Ali+co. Unfortunately, nothing with tweezers.

Any ideas?

- Martin

[Doctorandus_P]

Are you sure you want to have tweezers?

I once had some weller tweezers at work and I found them awkward to use. I much preferred to use two irons, one in each hand to desolder SMT resistors and such. With the tweezers you always had to orient the PCB perfectly in order to be able to get to the right spot wit the tweezers, while with two irons you have much more control. If one pad is already heating, but the other is not, then just move that iron a bit. With tweezers it's also awkward to get feedback on which of the two irons you're pushing the hardest. Holt it a bit slanted and one of the irons does not touch at all.

[Martinn]

With SMT I always work under the microscope. I find it difficult even with one soldering iron to come into the field of view without burning something else in progress. Maybe with two small soldering irons like the T210 this might work better, still I find tweezers easier to work with. Aiming with two soldering irons at both end of a 0402 component is tricky!
I have used tweezers occasionally and even the old, clunky Ersa chip tool is an improvement over two irons.
The JBC nano is really tiny, which might help. Not sure if it brings enough heat onto the pads though (unless you work on a preheater or have the tips set to 600 °C). If I could choose I'd go for a Weller WXMT though.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Why not just a notched tip like Hakko has/had?

[Martinn]

Don't know that one, but with tweezers you can handle small components very efficiently. You grip them and can heat/solder/remove them in one move. You can quickly remove a resistor and place it either on just one pad or on the PCB (typically it sticks becaus of some flux). With a notched tip I assume you would need (regular) tweezers to actually move the component.
I just find handling 0402 and such just very easy and efficient with tweezers.

[Martinn]

So, finally I found some Chinese tweezers that look quite OK: Atten N9100 (?)
Example link to Ali: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004487686058.html
Here's some sort of review on YT:
and more

For that amount of money I am not going to attempt a DIY version (you'd have to buy at least the JBC tweezers or the Weller tips, which alone are also quite expensive). I had initially planned to buy a JBC station for a T210 (or maybe T245), but looking at the Atten station, I might just throw in the 50 and/or 130 W iron and see if it works for me. Regarding the tweezers - the seem to come with needle sharp tips (high thermal resistance), make sure to get chisel type tips in addition.

[seancsnm]

I have been using Weller WMRT type tweezers at work and they are a Godsend for working with 0603 components. Perhaps it's just a matter of getting the tip and tip angle right, or is just a matter of preference. But one thing is clear to me: I MUST have them for my own hobby work. I'm also in the camp of putting something DIY together. I want to design something as it's sort of a legacy thing for me. I went through 2 iterations of a soldering iron controller back in my undergrad days for a $10 knock-off HAKKO 907 pencil, the second of which I still use today so it'd be fun to see if I've learned anything I can use to improve the design in the past few years. But time is also something I don't have much of lately so I might just cave and buy something.

As to your OP, I have no idea if this is everything you need, but this guy did a DIY driver for a Weller Tweezers.

[Martinn]

Well, I ordered a full set from Ali (ST-1509 with tweezers, 130+50 W iron, additional stand, lots of tips), so hopefully no more DIY on that one. In the end this somehow adds up too, but still a fraction of what a Weller or JBC would cost.

[Martinn]

Quick update, just received the tweezers. Most replacement tips are still missing (different vendor), but the station, irons and tweezers are here.
For comparison, you see the Atten together with JBC and Weller versions.
The Atten N9100 is surprisingly well made. Although it is the largest of the four, using it under the microscope feels well controlled. They made a good decision cloning the Weller WMRT - although the JBCs have somehow better ergonomics, they are rather wobbly (tips move quite significantly). If your daily work is replacing 0402 and smaller, you'll probably want something smaller like the JBC nano. For my personal projects, I use 0602 resistors (because they still have the value printed on) and 0402 capacitors (no print either size, easier to place near pins for decoupling and still OK to solder with microscope). For those the Atten is fine even if it doesn't look like it (and even with the conical tips I rather dislike).