Spring clamp third hand for hand soldering SMDs

As you can see in the photo there is a hook on the long end of the spring. This is left over from its former home, it located with something in the CD-ROM mechanism.

It's worth noting though that it's very handy for placing the spring on an SMD component. I simply pick the hook up with the end of a small screwdriver to lift it, much easier than trying to manipulate the spring itself.

Having done a bit of SMD work with this device now it's worth passing a few comments. First of all it makes an amazing amount of difference to SMD soldering in general. I find myself no longer using the magnifier because the component is securely held and I can concentrate on the soldering.

The spring can work its way sideways, I occasionally have to recenter it. There is also the possibility of it flicking a component off the board if the component isn't seated well. I had this happen on a reworked component where I evidently hadn't desoldered the pads well enough and there was a "hump" of solder. Not too bad when it's a 2p chip resistor, though I can see it would be a disaster with an expensive and exotic semiconductor.

All in all though, pretty happy with this device.

A lengthy project log for a build that took twenty minutes from idea to completion is a bit pointless. My SMD soldering skills are probably average, I've built quite a lot of stuff over the years but I've always had problems keeping my components steady while I work on them. This clamp solves that problem with a very quick build and some readily available scrap.

The board in the picture is a pre-production prototype for my Pi-HF direct conversion radio receiver kit for the Raspberry Pi.