# "Solder Buddy" Jig for soldering PCBs



## FistJr (Nov 11, 2014)

This past winter my daughter and I began soldering up four of Halstaff's great Frankenstein prop controller boards. As anyone that's ever tried to solder up a PCB knows, humans are simply one hand short to make soldering easy. My thirteen year old daughter was making one of the Frankenstein board as part of a school project, so I wanted to try and make the soldering mechanics as easy as possible for her. The result was a very simple jig/frame that worked surprisingly well. I thought I'd share it in case anyone else could benefit.

The concept is to make a small wooden frame that the PBC board can barely fit inside. Here's the frame with a completed PCB board inside so you can see how tight it is. I used a 3/4" x 3/4" trim board for the frame.










On one side of the frame I put a thin (1/8") flat panel (the back of a wooden clipboard), and cut out an opening that was slightly smaller than the opening in the frame. This creates a lip/ridge that holds the PCB board in place when it is placed in the frame, but also allows access to the backside of the PCB board. Here's a picture from the opposite side (the ridge will be easier to see in other pictures):










Once the frame is done, just drop your components into the PCB board. The leads will go through to the backside and be dangling loose within the PCB board. You can put all of the components in at once, but I found it easier to do it in two stages -- first all of the very low/short components (resistors, diodes, IC sockets, etc.) and then after those have been fully soldered a second phase with the taller components (regulators, capacitors, etc.). Drop the PCB into the frame once you have the components placed -- the back plate (lip) will catch the PCB board on the edges, but allow the leads to pass through the opening. Here's a pic:










Now, cut a piece of 1" thick foam to fit exactly within the frame. Place it directly on top of the components and push it straight down. This will put force on the components to hold them in place. Put another wood panel on top of the foam and secure it with rubber bands:



















(continued in next message)


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## FistJr (Nov 11, 2014)

*Solder Buddy jig, continued...*

(continued)

Here's the frame flipped over:










Note the "lip" that holds the PCB in place -- it is wide enough (about 1/8" or 1/16" overhand on the inner opening) to hold the PCB in, but not so wide that it blocks the leads near the edges. At this point, the rubber bands and cover plate put pressure on and compress the foam rubber, which securely holds the components in place. You can carry the frame around without the components falling out, and can set it down and solder the leads in place easily. If you want, you can solder half of the components in, put it on a shelf, and come back the next day to finish the job. I've found it to be remarkably handy. Here's my daughter soldering up one of Halstaff's Frankenstein boards:



















Once the components are all soldered in, clip the leads, pop out of the frame, and voila!










If you only have a single board to solder and are fairly fluent in soldering, making the frame may not be worth the effort. But if you have multiple boards to solder and can reuse the frame (or if you have a 13 year old daughter you're trying to get into Haunting...), it really does make the process a lot easier and a lot faster.

- John


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## David_AVD (Nov 9, 2012)

Very neat. We use large flip-over frames at work when loading boards, but I love your minimal cost implementation.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

What a great dad you are, and congrats to your daughter for jumping into the tech pool


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