You’ve probably seen tweezers act as test probes for a multimeter or other instrument. Some electronics testing tweezers even have the multimeter built right in. Tools like these are especially handy for working with surface mount components. [Bweed2] found a probe made by E-Z hook that kept a fixed distance you can set with a thumbwheel. It looked good, but the $70-$80 price tag seemed too much.
Employing hacker ingenuity, he turned to a drafting compass. You know, the tool you use to draw circles. He picked up one for about $10 and then got some cheaper compasses to scavenge their needles (the compass usually only has one needle since the other side holds a pencil). The result was a useful set of adjustable probes.
Once you have the idea, it is a pretty simple project. Immobilize the knee of the compass with glue, connect some wires and–for extra points–add some red and black heat shrink to make it pretty.
Want to make a more classic SMD tweezer? Here’s one we’ve covered before. If you’d rather use your feet and your ears with your probes, you might be interested in these.
Would be cool to use pogo pins in place of needles.
What he should have used was a divider not a compass if he wanted needles on both ends.
It isn’t a compass anyway, they are called sprinbows to give them their right name.
Gese. SPRINGBOWS
Wish I could see what I am typing, I blame the wine.
I usually blame the whiskey, but to each his own.
I thought a spring bow/bow compass was one with a curved metal spring joining the two legs, not the type illustrated above… You’re not saying all ‘compasses’ should be called springbows are you?
I think I will just use nails and two dowels for my Arduino multimeter. This looks too sharp and too expensive :)