Sometimes it’s the simplest hacks that make the biggest impact.
Take these DIY magnetic PCB vises for example. Sure, you can go out and buy purpose-built tools, but [Dylan Radcliffe] just made a trip to the hardware store for some nuts and bolts. He chose 3/8″-16 bolts, which would probably be around M10 for the rest of the world. The head of each bolt is ground flat so a ceramic disc magnet can be attached to it with CA glue, while the head of the bolt gets a plastic washer glued to it. Another plastic washer gets glued to a nut, which when threaded onto the bolt provides the light clamping force needed to hold a PCB. Make four of those and stick them to a steel plate with the magnets, and you can stop chasing your boards around the bench with a soldering iron.
As much as we like this idea — and we do; we’re heading to Home Depot to buy the needed parts this very evening — we can think of a few useful modifications. With a long bolt and two nuts rather than one, you could make a set of vises that are easily adjustable along the Z-axis. This could prove useful to those of us working under a microscope. Also, rather than making the bolts the magnetic part we bet you could lay down a flexible magnetic sheet, the kind you can feed into a printer to roll your own fridge magnets. We suspect that would hold the bolts firmly enough for most work while still allowing easy repositioning. We’d also favor flange nuts over plain hex nuts, to give a larger clamping area. We’d still include the plastic washers, though, or possibly switch to rubber ones.
There’s more than one way to skin this cat, of course, especially if you’ve got a Harbor Freight nearby and a well-stocked Lego bin.
I find it funny that whenever a project is presented on Hackaday, there is always someone who thinks they can make a better version of it. Today I experienced that I didn’t need to wait for the comments but could read all about it in the article itself, heck almost 50% of the text was about improvements to an already perfectly functional design.
PS: for those who want to use this in combination with a microscope, you can always move the microscope itself up/down when needed, some microscopes even have a fancy button/knob for it which in most cases is located on the side(s) of the device.
I agree. The ceramic magnets will hold much better than a magnetic sheet will, a steel sheet is a lot cheaper than a magnetic sheet, and adjustable height just leads to always having to adjust the height.
Overall it looks like a very reasonable alternative to the expensive PCBite holders.
lol so true
Surely that’s the great thing about hacks – they’re whatever came to mind. A different person will have a slightly different take on it. And through the wonder of sites like this, we get the best of all worlds.
Coming from Dan, I promise you that you can take it as praise that you inspired him to riff on your basic idea.
Being in the peanut gallery is thankless work but apparently somebody’s gotta do it
I had to look it up (found it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_gallery )
My biggest surprise in this was that the peanuts were being thrown not from within the audience, but from the stage itself. And not one peanut… but almost halve a bag. I’m sure it happened with genuine enthusiasm and only with the best intentions, but somehow it felt awkward towards the original post. A design that doesn’t need any further improvements since it already works perfectly fine and the suggested “improvements” only ruin the beauty of its simplicity.
This is a great idea. There are any number of similar 3D printed concepts, but the beauty here is it is made from off shelf an/or parts bin “stuff” and is customizable.
I like this. When other units are selling for £50Gbp for one, this is a great idea. Must give it a try.
If you can’t or don’t want to use magnets and a steel sheet, a (very expensive!) commercial solution consists of a heavy piece of steel round bar stock (possibly with added mass inside) with a similar padded nut arrangement on top. A DIY version could be made with a longer bolt cast in concrete or plaster, with the obvious additions to make it bench- and PCB-friendly. You could even throw some fishing weights or scrap steel inside to add mass and/or lower the CG.
Upside down cookie sheet.
Magnetic sheet on your bench top? I give it 15 minutes before you get sick of everything being pulled out of your hands and rip that off again.
Stick with magnets on the bolts.
But then where will I make my iron filings facial hair magnet guy
“With a long bolt and two nuts rather than one, you could make a set of vises that are easily adjustable along the Z-axis.”
Or, ditch the lower nut of the two and drop a spring in between the bolt-head and lower washer – adjust the (top) nut to limit the upper Z-height but save the need to tighten the second (lower) nut by letting the washer get pressed up by a retained spring.
i’m off topic but while we’re on the topic of magnets on your workbench…
sometimes i forget to put tape over my laptop speakers until after they’ve collected metal filings from the workbench :(
I’ve found the most useful thing for my soldering bench – a heavy thing. specifically I use a machinist 123 block, but any block of steel will do. You can use it to hold down part of the board so it doesn’t wander while you solder, you can use it to hold down wires while you tin them, you can use it in combination with a clamp or clip and some old PCB’s to hold the corner of the PCB you’re working on. I use it almost every time I work at that bench.
Add to that one of those little vacuum base vises and an alligator clip third hand thingies and you’ve got work holding 90 percent covered.
A heavy thing. Made of metal.
That’s hilaroius. And you’re not wrong!
Hmm. Years ago I whipped up a 3D printed set of PCBite clones, which work great (until you melt one with a soldering iron, but that’s quick to replace). I use them every day, thinking of making more, but they are a bit fiddly to make and require springs I don’t have on hand, so I have been putting it off.
I love the simplicity of these and wish I’d thought of this solution. I’m going to whip up a set this weekend.
OK, done. Couldn’t wait for the weekend.
https://hackaday.io/project/202216-another-spin-on-pcb-clamps
Thanks for the inspiration Dylan.
That’s much easier than I’ve been doing so far. I’m going to use plastic bolts as there is no strength needed.
Now, I really LIKE this idea. I got a PCB holder, but it holds the PCB to ‘high’ for soldering. Also have those bendy alligator clip magnetic snakes … But again way to high and awkward…. This solution should work great!!!! Already have a nice metal plate (came with the snake holders). Thank you! One of those … Why didn’t I think of that ideas!!!! Oh and take up very little room when not in use too. Even throw into a drawer until needed.
Another variation would be using a disk magnet with a countersunk through hole. Insert a flathead screw, secure it with a 25mm (or other length) long standoff on the other side, then you need only use m3 or m4 screw to hold the board in place using the mounting holes in the PCB.
If using a board with no holes, go with the flat washers to clamp it.
Those that have 3D printers could come up with some clever solutions using the above idea as a jumping off point too. But I like the simplicity of bolts/nuts/washers/magnet done. Within reach of any of us.
Hey that’s a great idea! Just like those $80 Hakko PCB holders. This is a great hack.
Those are what I was referring to in my comment above.
Thanks for the amazing response everyone! Glad you liked my idea! Sounds like the home despot is gonna be out of magnets this weekend!
I like to use rare earth magnets. I use E6000 to glue them on with a good fillet around the edges and a thin coating over the top of the magnet. The coating keeps it from sliding and it can be used on a vertical surface as well. I have a lot of things suspended this way.
Consider adding some form of electrical insulation on the metal sheet (the packages for magnetic board holders are generally using an enameled sheet), esp if you’re ever considering powering up a device (vs just assembly) for test. Also, rubber feet under the metal sheet if it isn’t already fixed down – it’d suck for your project to be held from moving around on the base, but the base slides around on the benchtop.
I have the commercial types (three styles even), one type has conical tips on which you can set a PCB, which can align with mounting holes (adapting to different diameters). There are types which support a pogo pin probe attachment, allowing for taking measurements without soldering bodgewires or trying to hold several probes by hand,
You can find Neo magnets with a chamfered screw hole (BTW, do not even bother trying to drill a magnet on your own) – if you drill the middle of the bolt head and tap, you could screw the magnet to the bolt head (which means it won’t easily break free), then cover that with adhesive felt, so it doesn’t scratch your tape or enamel on the metal plate.
Those plastic washers could be 3D printed with a projecting finger and pin to grab a PCB by a mounting hole. Or a projecting horizontal mount bar with a V-groove in it to engage a length of the edge of a PCB, and even that could be set up to have an adjustable angle (though less useful for SMD assembly).
A coil spring under the upper nut can provide some downward force to retain the plastic washer, and filing a taper at the outside mating edges of the washers would facilitate being able to push the PCB in between the washers and have them spread against the spring force – no loosening and re-tightening of the nut every time you add and remove a PCB. Many hardware stores (at least where I live) have plastic boxes with spring assortments, and springs are well worth scavenging from things (pens, adjustable lamps, furniture, etc)
There are gobs of tweaks that can be done, and personal reasons for doing one vs. another.
I use a cam clamp to hold the board by the edges. Much faster than fiddling with screws, and less obstruction. And if it’s not heavy enough by itself to keep from sliding around, use another to clamp it to the edge of the table.
Built something for that use before.
I used some magnetic hooks with unscrewable hooks, M4 screws with a broad head (They look like a washer was glued under a regular screwhead), springs and small metal bottle caps.
Screws and springs came from something i took apart a few years ago, the hooks came from a german discounter store and the small bottlecaps (with bottles) from a 1-euro shop.
The internet literally showed me what to look for in my parts storage and i improved that a few times already as i came upon better parts over time