MacGyvering Test Lead Clips

Okay fellow Make-Gyvers, what do you get when you cross a peripheral power cable jumper, a paperclip, springs, and some 3D-printed housings? DIY test lead clips.

Test clips are easily acquired, but where’s the fun in that? [notionSuday] started by removing the lead connectors from the jumper, soldering them to stripped lengths of paperclip, bent tabs off the connectors to act as stoppers, and slid springs over top. Four quick prints for the housings later, the paperclip assembly fit right inside, the tips bent and clipped to work as the makeshift clamp. Once slipped onto the ends of their multimeter probes, they worked like a charm.

In the video you also get a glimpse of a battery holder [notionSunday] made using a 3D printer and some more paperclips. Take note — if you don’t have a cache of paperclips in your workspace, you may be missing out on critical hacking materiel.

If you can never have too many testing devices, this impressive LED tester will tell you the needed resistor value to make sorting through that pile of LEDs you have collecting dust that much easier.

23 thoughts on “MacGyvering Test Lead Clips

  1. So… He 3d printed a shim so he could use pen parts to make a clip? Why not just you know, 3d print the whole thing and have control over the shape? Also, I’m pretty sure macguyver never had a 3d printer on his person nor the 4 hours to wait for it.

  2. This is clever and useful.

    I too thought ‘bobber’ upon first glance. And also must agree with the snark that 3D printing, cool as it is, is not MacGyvering. Surely there was another more suitable meme to set up this post?

  3. Minigrabber test clips from Pomona are perfect. But kind of pricey. Surely there’s a way to get that kind of quality at a bargain price, right? Cheap stuff from China? Make your own?

    There’s not. Just get out your wallet and pay for perfection. If only every problem had such a simple solution.

  4. I wanted to say something nasty, about the paperclips being useful in their original form, they will clip to resistor lead in the same way as they will clip to paper… but bladieblabla… the music made me calm and now I can only say: fun project, nicely done.

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