Soldering tiny components

[johnWM]

Holding tiny assemblies for soldering can be a bit of a problem.
"Millboard matting" and "Soldering Honeycomb" have been suggested as good surfaces to solder on. See "Where to Get" 2006. (See the resources section of the web site if you missed this.)
Soldering honeycomb seems suitable for jigging up components that need holding together with bits of wire or pins.

I have 2 questions.
How big are the holes in the honeycomb mat, i.e. what size wire can be used, is it suitable for assembly of fine brake gear components for example. Has anyone experience of the honeycomb mat to do this sort of work.
Second, has anyone any experience of using "magnesia block" for fine assembly work like this. It is advertised on American jewellery sites on the web, but I can't find a supplier in the UK, so have not tried it, but it looks promising. It would have the advantage that the holes can be any size and put anywhere. The honeycomb mat has a pre determined grid pattern.
John

[Major Clanger]

Holding tiny assemblies for soldering can be a bit of a problem.
"Millboard matting" and "Soldering Honeycomb" have been suggested as good surfaces to solder on. See "Where to Get" 2006. (See the resources section of the web site if you missed this.)
Soldering honeycomb seems suitable for jigging up components that need holding together with bits of wire or pins.

I have 2 questions.
How big are the holes in the honeycomb mat, i.e. what size wire can be used, is it suitable for assembly of fine brake gear components for example. Has anyone experience of the honeycomb mat to do this sort of work.
Second, has anyone any experience of using "magnesia block" for fine assembly work like this. It is advertised on American jewellery sites on the web, but I can't find a supplier in the UK, so have not tried it, but it looks promising. It would have the advantage that the holes can be any size and put anywhere. The honeycomb mat has a pre determined grid pattern.
John

John,

I sell a couple of US-sourced soldering pads - are they similar? Heat resistant to 1500degC, readily take pins, and not affected by phosphoric acid flux. Details on the website below - use "soldering" in the description field on the search page. I will have them at Wells and Scaleforum.

[johnWM]

Andrew
Thankyou for the information.
It sounds similar to the "Soft Ceramic Board" avialable from Contenti in the states.
If I make it to Scaleforum this year I will have a look.

Anyone
In addition to the "Soft Ceramic Board" the contenti website also lists Magnesia block and round honeycomb block, as well as the rectangular honeycomb block. Does anyone have experience of using some of these mounting boards?
The rectangular honeycomb block is listed as having 1/16th inch holes, which seems a bit large for assembling something like P4 brakegear components.
The Contenti website is at
http://www.contenti.com/products/solder ... oards.html
Unfortunately there is a $200 dollar minimum overseas order.

[jls_s4]

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.as ... t&ID=70219
Here's a link for a Micro-Mark item (6" x 6", also available 12x12 and 12x6). I pondered this but ended up getting a 6 by 8 sheet of perforated paxolin from Radio Shack for somewhat less and without shipping costs.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... age=family
Now that I have looked at the Contenti site I see that their prices are much better than Micro-Mark's though!

[modelmaker87]

Hi Jeff,

I purchased one of those Micro-Mark soldering pads. On the packaging there was a warning. It was plain to read:-

"THIS PRODUCT MAY CAUSE CANCER"

So instead of opening it, I sent it back immediately for a full refund. One of the problems of soldering pads or boards is the toxic nature of the materials that they are made of. In view of this, I highly recommend the charcoal blocks, these definitely do not have any cancer causing agents.

Just a heads up for those following this thread.

Caveat Emptor.

Cheers, Tony

[johnWM]

I noticed a reference to "needs good ventilation" on one of the web sites advertising a soft resin board intended as a surface for assembling electrical components.
I assume that this is a similar product to the micro mart one.
I assume that Magnesia refers to Magnesium Carbonate which is pretty much inert. Quite what the soft ceramic boards are made from I don't know. All these substances are advertised for use up to much higher temperatures than we would normally require. I assume charcoal blocks used for silver soldering by jewellers gets sooty and dirty.
When very tiny components needed jigging up with pins in the past I have used a bit of balsa wood. Recently I tried a "cut and shut" job on some brake gear, ending up with small components getting even smaller. After the first 3 or 4 solder joints I ended up with so much soot and dirt from charring of the balsa wood, the components were too dirty to solder and I had to scrap the idea. I thought that there has to be a clean soft surface that would be better.

Anyone else tried any of the alternatives.

[nigelcliffe]

For holding small bits I use peg and skewer clamps, as described in a ScaleFour news a while ago. The original articles by David Eveleigh are on the 2mm website and a few photos on my own site:

http://www.2mm.org.uk/mag0897/clamps.htm
http://www.nigelcliffe.photobook.org.uk/c758017.html

Another friend of mine has one of the honeycomb boards described in the thread. He has some peg and skewer clamps which just use the pointed end of a skewer/cocktail stick to locate in the honeycomb. This gives enough location to brace the clamp.

To avoid soldering to components, and to avoid charring from wood/MDF/whatever, covering the working surface with tinfoil works for me.


- Nigel

[grovenor-2685]

Nigel,
Is that common aluminium kitchen foil you mean?
regards

[nigelcliffe]

Keith,
yes, tinfoil = kitchen aluminium foil


( Forum comment; can the ability to edit one's posts be turned on ? Its fairly common on other forums)

- Nigel