PCB Holder for SMD assembly - microscope

[Jay_Diddy_B]

Hi group,
It is time to share another project with the group. This project is more mechanical than electronics.
I use a stereo zoom microscope for all my SMD soldering and rework. The microscope is great for see the parts. I found that I needed something to hold the small PCBs that I was working on. I came up with this device for holding the boards:



Here are a few of the details. I knurled the knobs that I are used tighten the vise.



I filed a small dovetail on the jaws, so that it pulls the board down into the vise.



The dimensions can be chosen to suit your needs. Mine is made from 1/2 x 1/2 6061 Aluminium.

The jaws are 4.5 inches wide. The threaded rods are 1/4" (20 threads per inch) about 4.5 inches long.
I find it much easier to work on a board held in this vise under the microscope.

Regards,

Jay_Diddy_B

[nanofrog]

Nice.

Do your boards have mixed parts (SMD + PTH) or some other reason they wouldn't be stable on an otherwise flat surface when it's just SMD (i.e. on 2 layer rubber ESD mat)?

[22swg]

Looks like a useful tool, not got into smd yet, I have been using a small clamp vice and 'third hand ' lens to solder 64 pin TQFP  mcu  Do you use glue to hold the smd parts ?
 

[DmitryL]

Hi group,
It is time to share another project with the group. This project is more mechanical than electronics.
I use a stereo zoom microscope for all my SMD soldering and rework. The microscope is great for see the parts. I found that I needed something to hold the small PCBs that I was working on. I came up with this device for holding the boards:

The dimensions can be chosen to suit your needs. Mine is made from 1/2 x 1/2 6061 Aluminium.

The jaws are 4.5 inches wide. The threaded rods are 1/4" (20 threads per inch) about 4.5 inches long.
I find it much easier to work on a board held in this vise under the microscope.

Hmm.. I just use "drill vice", like these:
http://www.toolstop.co.uk/sealey-100dv-drill-vice-super-100mm-jaw-p52842

[Jay_Diddy_B]

Looks like a useful tool, not got into smd yet, I have been using a small clamp vice and 'third hand ' lens to solder 64 pin TQFP  mcu  Do you use glue to hold the smd parts ?
 

No I do not use glue. I put solder on1 pin or 1 pad. I use tweezers in one hand and the soldering iron in the other.
 I then solder the other pins.

Nice.

Do your boards have mixed parts (SMD + PTH) or some other reason they wouldn't be stable on an otherwise flat surface when it's just SMD (i.e. on 2 layer rubber ESD mat)?

I sometimes have parts on the other side of the board. You want the board to be flat so that it stays in focus.

I designed the vise to get the board as low as possible so I can rest my hand on the bench. The top of the board is just 1/2 inch or 12mm above the bench.

The vise weighs 5oz (150g) which is enough to stop the boards moving around. If the board is big enough, then I don't use the vise.

Hmm.. I just use "drill vice", like these:
http://www.toolstop.co.uk/sealey-100dv-drill-vice-super-100mm-jaw-p52842

My vise was inspired by the drill vice. I wanted the board to be lower to the bench.

Regards,

Jay_Diddy_B

[Heffa]

This looks great!
I wish I had the tools and skills to make something similar myself  :-)

[KJDS]

That's a neat idea.

It's similar to a large toolmakers clamp, which are available up to about 100mm for very little money, but I don't know how hard the metal is on those to know if it would be possible to file the dovetail.

[Jay_Diddy_B]

That's a neat idea.

It's similar to a large toolmakers clamp, which are available up to about 100mm for very little money, but I don't know how hard the metal is on those to know if it would be possible to file the dovetail.

Toolmakers clamps should be steel and hardened so I think it would be difficult to modify them.

I have been thinking about using the screws from a toolmakers clamp and just making the jaws out of 6061 Aluminium. You could probably make some Aluminium soft-jaws.


I milled the dovetail 0.070 deep and 0.090 wide. I then filed the angle by hand.

Jay_Diddy_B

[rx8pilot]

I like it. I have had the same problem with typical PCB holders when using my microscope - too tall! My boards have 0402 passives that I am placing by hand and most are double sided.

This is my solution - machined blocks with magnets. I use them on a cookie sheet and its very adjustable. The clamp idea seems to be much easier to manipulate than my setup though.

[Kjelt]

Ah J-D-B thank you very much for this idea!
I already had a suitable clamp like that for my woodworking hobby but never realised I could use it for this purpose. Great!

[mhwlng]

I came across something similar on Tindie :

https://www.tindie.com/products/Z2instro/pcb-assembly-holder/



(I don't own one)

[zapta]

I am using a holder like this. It's good for small boards. It's holds at three points and the sprint is adjustable. Cheap but useful.

[Tac Eht Xilef]

This is my solution - machined blocks with magnets. I use them on a cookie sheet and its very adjustable. The clamp idea seems to be much easier to manipulate than my setup though.

That's very similar to something I've been thinking of, except I was going to embed a couple of neodymium magnets (one in a long face, the other in a short face) in polycarbonate or similar blocks, and put a slot / corner cutout around a short face as well (to give two working heights).

Anything that annoys you with your setup? Things you'd do differently?

[eliocor]

With 2 magnetic supports: http://www.aoyue.eu/accessoires-solderingstation-hotair-repairing-station-hot-air-soldering-desoldering-preheater/aoyue-326-pcb-working-platform-soldering-station.html



or: http://www.aoyue.eu/accessoires-solderingstation-hotair-repairing-station-hot-air-soldering-desoldering-preheater/aoyue-328-working-platform-soldering-station.html (but never used by me)

[rx8pilot]

Anything that annoys you with your setup? Things you'd do differently?

I originally made the magnetic blocks for my stencil printer. When I started using them for assembly and re-work, I quickly discovered that the magnets are a little too close to the PCB. Small components close to the magnets can jump off the PCB and stick to the block. If they were just 1/2" longer, it would not be much of an issue. Manyof my PCBs are not square and these accommodate strange shapes, including round.

[japanesw]

Hi group,
It is time to share another project with the group. This project is more mechanical than electronics.
I use a stereo zoom microscope for all my SMD soldering and rework. The microscope is great for see the parts. I found that I needed something to hold the small PCBs that I was working on. I came up with this device for holding the boards:



Here are a few of the details. I knurled the knobs that I are used tighten the vise.



I filed a small dovetail on the jaws, so that it pulls the board down into the vise.



The dimensions can be chosen to suit your needs. Mine is made from 1/2 x 1/2 6061 Aluminium.

The jaws are 4.5 inches wide. The threaded rods are 1/4" (20 threads per inch) about 4.5 inches long.
I find it much easier to work on a board held in this vise under the microscope.

Regards,

Jay_Diddy_B

Your holder idea is nice because it is simple and can be made cheaply and easily at any size from super tiny to huge.

The thing that you need to improve are the side aluminum blocks. They have to be a bit taller (their height from the desk) and the notch has to be done deeper. These mods will allow you to solder both sides of a double sided PCB without having to remove the PCB from the vice. In fact you can solder components in both sides one after the other bu just flipping over the vice.
The height of the aluminum blocks has to match the tallest component in your PCB (double that for bith sides).
Not to mention, that the taller aluminum blocks, will add weight to the vice, which is needed for a steady PCB soldering.

[eneuro]

I came up with this device for holding the boards:

I used old school vice for such purposes, but something like this can be easier to handle od work desk 

However, you need to turn 2 independent screws, so it is difficult to make PCB holders parallel.
So, some kind of gears or chain is needed to drive those PCB holders in parallel using only one screw to save time
 

The height of the aluminum blocks has to match the tallest component in your PCB (double that for bith sides).

Yep, but height of the aluminum blocks doesn't need to be such tall-simply we can add additional screws at the edges and make this height adjustable by makeing set of cut (or buy at a few different length available) screws which match our tallest component depending on project we are working on

I've some SMD prototypes stuff todo, so it will be fun to use spot welder to make enhanced version of something like this

[zapta]

Got this recently from Micro Mark and chopped the long handle at about half. Works very good but I also like the OP's design and would buy one (kickstarter?).

[eneuro]

Got this recently from Micro Mark and chopped the long handle at about half.

Still if some work is to do on reverse side of PCB it have to be removed and it is additional work, so it is worth to do this thing much more versatile and it is easy and faster than waiting for mail box - just visit local tools store and buy a few screws and spot weld together 

[voja]

Nice tool, indeed!

[Kjelt]

https://cnc-plus.de/Workholding/Vises/

[KM4FER]

Nice job.  Good knurling. 

On a 4 point hold I like the two screws since you can clamp a board that is not exactly square.

earl...

[VK4GHZ]

Nice job, and not having the ability to metal work like that, I went searching and found a similar product.

"Stickvise PCB Vise"




https://core-electronics.com.au/stickvise-pcb-vise.html

And the high temperature PTFE jaws if you intend to use hot air:
https://core-electronics.com.au/added/?product=38702/



These are actually cheaper from Digikey:
https://www.digikey.com.au/product-detail/en/3197/1528-1747-ND/6198266

They can hold a PCB up to 155mm deep, so very useful, unlike the plethora of smaller PCB holders mainly for smart phone repairs.

[Jester]

Jay_Diddy_B,

Thanks for inspiring me, I have been thinking of making one of these for a while, and used your image as a starting point. Almost the same except one threaded side and one slider. Seems to work fairly well.

• I used a spotting bit to cut the V-Groove slot.
  
• 3/8-16 for the thread for slightly quicker adjustment.
• Old broken long 1/8" drill bit for the slider, press fit on one side and 0.002 clearance on other side.

[CopperCone]

The only improvement you can have is to clamp the PCB from the top to the bottom (like microscope slides) with a leaf spring type assembly so you don't accidentally bow your PCB if you are tightening it. A screw can put an awful amount of mechanical force on something. I can maybe see it being a problem if you flex your PCB, solder like a BGA or some shit to it, then unflex it. You could bend something out of wires to do the trick ok.

Otherwise I wonder if putting blunt needles in the edges would work better ,since no one cares about the edge of the PCB and they can dig themselves in a bit without as much force, if you can't justify occupying the top with springs.

If you make holes for removable or adjustable needles you can hold irregularly shaped PCBs very well (graphics card, mouse PCB, etc), so long they are not ceramic. I mean like micrometer/screw adjustment for the needle depth. You can cut crude points using a dremel or file.

I would not recommend using needles or a clamp on ceramic PCB however, only carefully distributed top force.