Useful little tool from radio shack

[evandude]

Hey, I know this is random, but I wanted to recommend a cool little tool from radio shack.

I don't think they're still making them, unfortunately, but I always seem to see a few on the rack on clearance.

What I'm talking about are the little stainless steel money clips, with scissors, nail file, and knife in them. The main point is that the nail file has a little screwdriver on the end of it. Not only is it the perfect size for most trimpots, the nailfile itself is the PERFECT width to fit under standard IC's. And due to that screwdriver tapered end, it slips under an IC very easily, so it's PERFECT for popping chips out of their sockets... if you can reach, it can just slide under the whole length of the chip and you just wiggle it and the chip pops out. Even specialty IC remover tools don't do as good a job, in my opinion.

Just something to think about next time you're in there. as i said, they're usually on clearance, I think i paid $1.97 for mine, and I've bought another one since.

 

[Dean Huster]

For trimpots, there are two tools that I really like, one cheap/free and the other purchased. Bourns or Clarostat or whoever sells a little trimpot adjusting tool that a flat-blade screwdriver tip buried inside a sleeve so that the end of the driver slips over the adjusting end of those little long multi-turn trimpots so that it won't slip off as you twiddle with the driver.

The freebie is made from 1/8" diameter fiberglass shaft material, often used as shaft extenders in Tektronix products made in the 1970s. Cut to 4 to 6 inches and use a mill file to flatten the end into a screwdriver shape. Put a small knob made for a 1/8" shaft on the other end for more precision torquing. This one is strong, insulated and won't affect capacitance of the little cap trimmers in radios and such equipment.

Now, nothing says that you can have the best of both worlds by making the tweaker above and adding a bit of spaghetti over the end to make a similar tool to that sold by the pot companies.

Dean

 

[atferrari]

For popping IC out of their sockets

More than 20 years ago I bought at Radio Shack a set of tools dedicated to insert and extract IC's of various sizes. There is even one with two "grooves" to form the pins to the right shape prior insertion.

All came with a pin for grounding.

I am currently working, for more than 2 years now, with a 16F877 micro.

I use it in a breadboard and every time it has to go to the programmer I just extract it easily. Never in 20 years got one pin bent. Using a screwdriver, MANY times!

I wonder if they still exist... :?:

Agustín Tomás

 

[spuffock]

Might there be a special tool for getting a 16f877 out of my thumb?

 

[atferrari]

Oh, an awful experience

that I repeated again and again until I recalled that set I had in a drawer.

:cry:

Agustín Tomás