What am I missing in my tools list for building my 1176LN Rev D?

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canidoit

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
1,168
Location
Australia
Here are the tools I have so far.

- soldering station 20-450 degrees
- solder
- electrical tape
- heatshrink
- multimeter
- PCB holder (has these elegator clips to hold PCB, seems like it won't be able to hold PCB when parts are in, maybe small PCB)
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/DUAL-ARM-PCB-Holder-Solder-Stand-with-Magnifier-T1460_W0QQitemZ140306044633QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Hand_Tools?hash=item140306044633&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
- heat gun
- pcb laquer spray
- circuit board cleaner spray
(What other sprays should I get?)
- flourescent light
- magnifying glass
- cordless drill
- drill bits (what sizes are must haves?)
- screw driver set normal and for watch makers
- adjustable wrench small and large
- solder remover pump and this gold roll solder remover
- cutter
- short and long nose pliers
- tweezers
- scissors
- ruler
- hammer
- small desktop vice clamp, the claw only comes out like 50mm.
- cable ties

New Addition:
- Drill Press Vice 100mm
- Multicore X33-04 Isopropanol Flux and 40ml chemical dispenser.
- Static wrist strap.

Should I get these, if so what type or model:
- any brushes?
- what liquids should I get (flux or lubricant? If so, what?)
- glue, what type?
- oscilloscope (how important is this?)
 
Looks like a fairly complete list, if the case has "pre-drilled" XLR holes then fine otherwise you'll
need a hole punch ( G-Max ) which IIRC is 24mm for XLR holes
Drill sizes are :
6mm for small alpha pots
8mm for large citec pots
10mm for Jack sockets
12mm for large DPDT pwr switches

A good "Unibit" will cost you perhaps $30 but will cover a lot of hole sizes, I have one that goes from
4mm up to 12mm ( even numbers ) and another from 5mm to 15mm

have fun !
MM.
 
Your list is rather more extensive than what I have available in my home (vs work) lab. I find that PCB holders are a matter of taste; some of my former colleagues used to swear by them, I've never liked any of the common models.

Get something to keep your tip clean (might be included in the solder station, but you didn't say so explicitly). A little OCD on this front doesn't hurt your odds to get the 1176 working first time.

canidoit said:
- drill bits (what sizes are must haves?)

Get a caliper.

MM has a good list of common sizes, but there's all that 'measure twice, cut once'-business. Even a cheap caliper is much more convenient and accurate at measuring shaft diameters and the like than a ruler. I've done without one for a long time, now it's one of my favorite tools.

canidoit said:
- oscilloscope (how important is this?)

It makes troubleshooting a LOT easier. A cheap 20MHz model is fine; analog tends to be more useful for audio work than digital. See if you can borrow one if you can't get a cheap second hand model. Workarounds for not having a real scope include PC (software) o-scopes, but those are limited to ~20kHz and will thus not show ultrasonic oscillations (or, worse, fool you with an in-band alias).

Another useful tool is a simple signal tracer. Buy (or repurpose) a cheap active PeeCee-speaker, protect its input with a pair of diodes in antiparallel plus a ~10k current-limiting resistor and attach probe leads. Use this to follow the signal through your circuit. A battery powered multimedia speaker is even better, as you don't have to worry about ground levels or noise injection through the speaker's wall wart.

JDB.
 
One other thing to go with the audio probe described above is an
audio signal source.

I use an old walkman CD player as a quick and dirty sound source.
Good to use with the probe for non-critical signal tracing.
And for musical evaluation!
 
Probably time to complete your DIY projects, instead of using your time to buy all those things!  ;D

canidoit said:
Here are the tools I have so far.

- soldering station 20-450 degrees
- solder
- electrical tape
- heatshrink
- multimeter
- PCB holder (has these elegator clips to hold PCB, seems like it won't be able to hold PCB when parts are in, maybe small PCB)
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/DUAL-ARM-PCB-Holder-Solder-Stand-with-Magnifier-T1460_W0QQitemZ140306044633QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Hand_Tools?hash=item140306044633&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
- heat gun
- pcb laquer spray
- circuit board cleaner spray
(What other sprays should I get?)
- flourescent light
- magnifying glass
- cordless drill
- drill bits (what sizes are must haves?)
- screw driver set normal and for watch makers
- adjustable wrench small and large
- solder remover pump and this gold roll solder remover
- cutter
- short and long nose pliers
- tweezers
- scissors
- ruler
- hammer
- small desktop vice clamp, the claw only comes out like 50mm.
- cable ties



Should I get these, if so what type or model:
- Drill Press Vice (for holding long pcb boards, 100mm, 150mm?)
- any brushes?
- what liquids should I get (flux or lubricant? If so, what?)
- glue, what type?
- oscilloscope (how important is this?)
 
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