PCB / Circuit Board Holder - Soldering Helper

thingiverse

Soldering has always been a frustrating experience for me, even with the aid of traditional "helping hands" tools, which still required an extra hand to hold a wire or solder. Looking through a magazine, I came across an advertisement for the PCB Rax (made by Bench Werx, http://www.benchwerx.com/pcb-rax/) and thought, "That would be amazing, I wonder how well it works!" Then I looked at the price and it was out of my budget at the moment, although I'm sure it's worth it if you do a lot of soldering. So, I created my own setup inspired by the PCB Rax product. I used sizes that I thought would fit the boards I would be working with and made some modifications based on what I saw in the pictures. Note: There will be some drawbacks to using a plastic solution for this project. For instance, it's plastic and can melt easily if hit with a soldering iron. However, I can live with that - I can simply print new parts! Also, it won't be as structurally sturdy as an aluminum version. It does flex a bit when moved around, and if pushed hard enough, it will push the board down, but for my needs, it works fine. To build this project, you'll need to print the following: 4x Feet 2x Support Beam 0-4x Board Arm (the support beams have slots to hold boards as well, and you could print and use more than 4, but I haven't had a need for that) 4x Threaded Rod Knobs You'll also need the following hardware: 2x #6 machine screws, 3/4" long or longer with nuts 4x 1/4" screws or bolts with nuts or wing nuts, 3/4" should do it 2x threaded rods, cut to whatever length you feel is necessary 4x square nuts, 1/4" Print Settings: Printer: Prusa MK2 Rafts: No Supports: Yes Resolution: .2 Infill: Varies Notes: The infill varies depending on the piece. I printed structural pieces at 90% infill and other parts at 50%. Post-Printing: When assembling, Loctite was used to hold one square nut on the end of each threaded rod. It's recommended to put the nut into the knob first! With my print of this project, I haven't had to glue the nuts into the knob at all; the tolerances of the knob were tight enough that I had to thread it onto the threaded rod.