Holding PCB's with sand?

Using Arduino General Electronics
1

I am working on a project and making great progress, but something that is kind of irritating is that the pcb is floppy because of the different heights of the components.. Aligator clips really don't do the job, as some of the pcbs are small and there isn't much for the clip to clip onto.

I thought of filling a shoebox (or similar) with sand, then I could place the pbc onto that, and wiggle it down it was firm...

im not using super small smd components so I shouldn't have to worry about loosing things...

does this sound advisable? (also, i'm not using moving parts like motors)

2

I use foam rubber sandwiching.
It conforms to the heights of your components.
Solder the shorter ones first.

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3

See:
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=262870.0

I use one of these also:

4

200 pounds (300 dollars) is more than I want to spend, but that does look rather handy.

5

The foam idea looks good though

6

Did you look at the images in the attached link in my reply #2.

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=262870.0

I made up my own foam compression boards as shown in those images.

7

We use these:

websearch "ball joint PCB vice"

8

yes Larry, I thought the foam idea was a good one.

9

Sand wouldn't hurt anything, but I would expect the sand would be messy.

I 3D printed this:

It could also be made from wood.

Dave

HandVice.jpg
HandVice.jpg800×598 124 KB

10

@GunnerCAF
Neat

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