Simple soldering jig

I often have to solder up a bunch of PCBs that are the same size, but have a bunch of fiddly components on them.

To save time and frustration, I decided to re-purpose a used chewing gum tin to make a jig so I could solder multiple boards at once and keep my components from moving about.

Step 1 Prep the tin

Choose a tin that's bigger than your PCB. I chose to use a chewing gum tin since 3 of my PCBs just fit, but you could use a standard sized mint tin if you have a bigger PCB.

Place your PCB on the underside of the tin and draw around it.

Make the line about 1/8" thicker on the inside to give you a cut guide.

Cut the bottom of your tin out (I used a Dremel).

DANGER! The edges will be sharp, so make sure you file and sandpaper them afterward to dull them a little. Even then, they can still cut you so use caution with your jig.

Comments

[Berserk87]

nice instructable. you should make a new instructable showing a "universal" jig. plus you could use a $0.50 spounge instead of the bread :P

[jwoo2023]

he said that he used a memory foam from the pillows and cut a piece off and it looked like bread.

[tagno25]

Cannot use a $0.50 sponge, because they are usually NOT flame retardant.

[Berserk87]

bread is? lol. couldnt you soak the sponge in something? the main point being, there are better things that a piece of bread :P

[johnson_steve]

did you read it? it's not bread.

[Berserk87]

he edited it. i remember seeing "fresh baked bread" in there.

[IW5 Industries]

no it says freahly baked bread? because he thinks it looks like bread...

[johnson_steve]

ahh I see. it does kind of look like bread.

[awang8]

I don't see the problem with using bread. When you're done all you have to do is eat the new lead-poisoning toast. Mmm...

[11tillr]

good idea very productive

[learning-teaching]

Great idea, pretty cool too!

[5Volt]

Yes, clever and a very good idea, just make sure not to breath the fumes from the sponge : it might not melt or burn but I suspect that some fumes should come off of it.

[Instant Arcade]

It's just a safety precaution really. The sponge doesn't even get hot. Also, any soldering I do is right in front of my fume extractor anyway, so hopefully I'm covered.

[rimar2000]

Very smart idea.

[Phil B]

Clever and a very good idea, especially for making multiple copies of the same circuit board.