Back in the 70s/80s a PCB holder with a foam component cover/clamp was
popular with small scale hand assembly houses we used. I think they cost a
few hundred dollars US.

Like this unit:
http://www.ideal-tek.com/product-248.html

This page has a good description of how to use it:
http://www.tomkenindustries.com/esd_racks.htm

For ultra low quantities that we built in-house, the procedure Bob wrote up
is exactly how we did it for single sided boards. For double sided boards w=
e
would tack the components on the top side before flipping.

Paul Hutch

> -----Original Message-----
> From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu On Behalf Of Bob Ammerman
> Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 3:29 PM
>
> Ah... perhaps you need a better method for installing DIPs on a board.
>
> What works for me is:
>
> 1: Put all the chips in
> 2: Hold a piece of cardboard over the chips and flip the board
> bottom side
> up onto your bench. The chips will now be in their holes but not
> necessarily
> tight against the board.
> 3: Tack solder two corner pins of each chip. Don't worry that they aren't
> flat on the board.
> 4: Pick the board up. Apply pressure from behind with your finger to one
> chip as you reheat the corner pins with the iron. The chip will
> settle down
> flat on the board.
> 4: Lay the board back down and solder all the remaining pins on each chip=
..
>
> -- Bob Ammerman
> RAm Systems

--=20
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