Share tips you have come across

[TomGeorge]

Bit of an Agatha Christie solution..
(Pun intended..)

[ChrisTenone]

An old cyanide chemist? I don't believe it!

[allanhurst]

Rather worse than that - his specialism was nerve agents when he lectured at  Cambridge, and examined candidates for  PhD's at Porton Down.

He's in his late 70's now, and seems pretty fit.....

So an old CAREFUL chemist.

One of the cleverest men I've ever met, and a fine pianist as well.


Allan

[Coding Badly]

Fixed it for you...

So an old CAREFUL LUCKY chemist.

When I was young my father had me cleaning pipettes.  He had me sucking chromic acid into them like a kid uses a soda straw.  Being a curious young lad, after I had finished, I asked, "What would happen if I sucked some of that into my mouth?"  He replied, "I cannot get you to the hospital fast enough to save your life.  So don't do that."

[polymorph]

haha. In my country it's called "tap water"

But I get the picture.

Only if you like your iron crusty with minerals. Snerk.

[TomGeorge]

Hi,
I had to replace a SOIC TL074 today that was situated in the middle of a 28pin DIL socket, it was the buffer amp for the 4ch DAC IC that plugs into the DIP socket.

A bit confined getting the SOIC in position.
I had used my pick-up magnet to pull the pins, that when I cut off the old SOIC, had to float off the solder pads.

The IC had just enough metal in it for the pick-up magnet to hold the IC and become a put-down magnet.




Tom....

[larryd]

Careful

[larryd]

An aluminum channel can be used to mount all kinds of motors, solenoids etc.
If your work piece has a parallel body, this technique can be used.
These channels come in different dimensions; select the appropriate size for mounting.
You need a hose clamp to compress the work against the edges of the channel.
Make two slots in the aluminum, the width of the hose clamp, see the image below.
Your work is clamped as seen, two clamps maybe need, one is often enough.
The channel can be attached to a secondary surface using screws.
Tools such as a Foredom handpiece or other hand held rotary cutters are held securely, freeing up both hands.
You can tune your item's position by sliding it on the channel, then tighten the clamp.
All it takes to remove your work is a screwdriver or a hex socket/wrench.

[larryd]

The aluminum channel can also be an anchor point for other hardware such as gears, pulleys, sensors etc.

[westfw]

Do you have a sneaky easy way to cut those slots?

[allanhurst]

I'd use a Dremel then clean up with a small file....

Allan

[larryd]

Do you have a sneaky easy way to cut those slots?

I have used 3 methods to accommodate the hose clamp.

1.  Drill a starting and ending hole at the hose clamp width dimensions.
     Use a cut-off wheel to cut most of the material.
     Shape the slot with an auger bit file.
     Cutting oil is useful.
2.  Using a table saw sled, nibble out a slot wide enough for the hose clamp.
3.  Use two spacers under the channel.







Hose clamp thickness is typically .025".

[larryd]

Rather than buying one of each length screw, buy them on the long side and cut to size.
For sizes 4-40 to 10-24 you can use a combination wire stripper and screw cutter to size a screw.

For smaller screws, make a cutting sled for your drill press and cut the screw with a 'cutoff wheel'.







Use UHMW to make the front skate.
1/2" nylon standoff for the back skate.

[larryd]

Use FR4 PCB material for the Sled.

[larryd]

You can also use this sled to cut standoffs to the height need.









LeeValley has the aluminum channel and the UHMW strips, front skate.
Use a 1/2" standoff for the back skate.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?p=45161&cat=3,43576,61994,45161