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geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: noisyturtle on Sun, 01 February 2015, 03:31:24

Title: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: noisyturtle on Sun, 01 February 2015, 03:31:24
Pics or gtfo
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: baldgye on Sun, 01 February 2015, 03:55:41
I did some soldering once.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: HoffmanMyster on Sun, 01 February 2015, 04:04:45
Captain "The KMAC Botcher" BadAss.  ;)
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 01 February 2015, 04:12:43
It comes down to equipment more than skill..

There's but a few tricks to get it all done..  but things like vacuum, good solid thin tips, good heat uniformity, good heat control, ..   it sort of takes care of itself.

I guess steady hands comes in as the only  developed skill..
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: FreeCopy on Sun, 01 February 2015, 04:14:24
My experience consists of 2 de-solders and 8 solders. Pretty sure it's not me.

Edit: Pic.

(http://i.imgur.com/y6KHjMr.jpg)
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: noisyturtle on Sun, 01 February 2015, 04:45:14
It comes down to equipment more than skill..

There's but a few tricks to get it all done..  but things like vacuum, good solid thin tips, good heat uniformity, good heat control, ..   it sort of takes care of itself.

I guess steady hands comes in as the only  developed skill..

So what you're saying is: it takes skill.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 01 February 2015, 04:54:32
It comes down to equipment more than skill..

There's but a few tricks to get it all done..  but things like vacuum, good solid thin tips, good heat uniformity, good heat control, ..   it sort of takes care of itself.

I guess steady hands comes in as the only  developed skill..

So what you're saying is: it takes skill.


not very much.. it's no harder than a glue gun.. or using tape..
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: jdcarpe on Sun, 01 February 2015, 04:58:57
Thechemist. No pics, but you can use Google, right? He recently assembled a KMAC for someone. Pics on DT.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: sethk_ on Sun, 01 February 2015, 07:53:27
drhubble, no pics, but he showed me on webcam how he fixed a broken poker 2 pad by going through the middle of the throughole, his first solder job was with a wood burner, and he has he easiest method to desoldering.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sun, 01 February 2015, 07:57:19
Thechemist. No pics, but you can use Google, right? He recently assembled a KMAC for someone. Pics on DT.
+1 Thechemist is the man.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: strict on Sun, 01 February 2015, 08:04:19
Thechemist. No pics, but you can use Google, right? He recently assembled a KMAC for someone. Pics on DT.

link for the lazy (http://deskthority.net/photos-f62/kmac-t9738.html)

How would you guys rank mine (https://imgur.com/a/KEbUW)? I feel like I do decent but certainly not the best or even among the best   :))
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: CPTBadAss on Sun, 01 February 2015, 08:10:43
Captain "The KMAC Botcher" BadAss.  ;)
Bro, you don't even want to see how the Kingsaver or this JD40 plug looks. I think my JD40 plug isn't soldered at all. All the melted plastic is holding it together :)). I am the king of ugly but working soldering.



But back to the OP? I vote JD.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: TacticalCoder on Sun, 01 February 2015, 08:15:39
Not me... But I can solder when my life depends on it ; )
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: 3Love on Mon, 02 February 2015, 00:56:15
Just need a little soldering. Make it likes "A". This is a good solder.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: DrHubblePhD on Mon, 02 February 2015, 00:57:13
GON has a GeekHack account, GON=legend, best with solder by far  :thumb:
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: DrHubblePhD on Mon, 02 February 2015, 01:08:37
And theChemist, aint bad either  ;)  :p
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Glod on Sun, 08 February 2015, 05:00:12
I heard WFD is pretty good at soldering trollololol. Damn.....now I made myself sad.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sun, 08 February 2015, 08:14:18
I heard WFD is pretty good at soldering trollololol. Damn.....now I made myself sad.
It is sad how so many GH'ers disappear under shady circumstances.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Glod on Sun, 08 February 2015, 14:36:20
I heard WFD is pretty good at soldering trollololol. Damn.....now I made myself sad.
It is sad how so many GH'ers disappear under shady circumstances.
Indeed, it's sad, he was actually pretty damn good at soldering, relevant to this conversation, and made some awesome videos on soldering and then he became one of the most hated members of geekhack ever and he deserves it.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: hking0036 on Sun, 08 February 2015, 15:07:01
I heard WFD is pretty good at soldering trollololol. Damn.....now I made myself sad.
It is sad how so many GH'ers disappear under shady circumstances.
Indeed, it's sad, he was actually pretty damn good at soldering, relevant to this conversation, and made some awesome videos on soldering and then he became one of the most hated members of geekhack ever and he deserves it.
sounds like tasty drama... explain pls  ;D
Title: .
Post by: esoomenona on Sun, 08 February 2015, 15:16:50
.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Sun, 08 February 2015, 15:17:52
typing too ****ing much.

qft
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Joey Quinn on Mon, 09 February 2015, 17:04:28
I'm aggressively ok at soldering.  :thumb:

[attachimg=1]

Edit: this is before cleaning
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Oobly on Tue, 10 February 2015, 06:52:34
I vote for GON. Here's a video of the man in action, soldering some SMD resistors in place:

In fact his youtube channel has quite a number of soldering vids.

I would also nominate WFD, since I consider his soldering to be very good, too, but.... I guess you mean currently active members. I prefer to reserve judgement.

My own soldering is.... Functional. Although I did once solder magnet wires directly to the pins of a QFN Atmega168 with a 25W Antex iron with standard bit... Still seeing squint.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: mauri on Tue, 10 February 2015, 06:55:18
I was terrible at soldering in school and it's been closer to 10 years since. I'm terrified when the GH60 actually arrives.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: JaccoW on Tue, 10 February 2015, 07:26:50
No mention of Margon by anyone? Tsk tsk.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: PunksDead on Tue, 10 February 2015, 07:44:25
I vote for GON. Here's a video of the man in action, soldering some SMD resistors in place:

In fact his youtube channel has quite a number of soldering vids.

I would also nominate WFD, since I consider his soldering to be very good, too, but.... I guess you mean currently active members. I prefer to reserve judgement.

My own soldering is.... Functional. Although I did once solder magnet wires directly to the pins of a QFN Atmega168 with a 25W Antex iron with standard bit... Still seeing squint.

wow that is impressive! its beautiful and frustrating to watch how easy GON makes it look. I tried to desolder some switches once and it went something like this  :(

(http://i.imgur.com/vBw6Hre.gif)
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Photekq on Tue, 10 February 2015, 07:46:43
My brain says GON.

My heart says margo :-*
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Parak on Tue, 10 February 2015, 11:38:58
I vote for GON. Here's a video of the man in action, soldering some SMD resistors in place:

That's an interesting technique, but it's not quite as simple as it makes it out to be. There's already a sufficient amount of solder on the pads, which is not normal for a HASL finish. So either some solder was added prior to the video, or the board manufacturer put it through a reflow or wave soldering process to deposit solder on the pads (at which point you might as well solder components as well). Certainly it wouldn't work without adding solder first with an ENIG finish (which is generally accepted as standard for SMD parts). It's also a bit dangerous in that usage of a large thermal mass tip on small pads and components can cause damage to them that much quicker.

I'm a bit more disappointed in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMAv0Ln2lSM) though, as it shows soldering from the top side of through hole component, with no fillet and a flush cut on the other side. Future desoldering issues aside (can't wiggle the pin), the general guideline for TH parts is to get a fillet on both sides which more securely holds the part.

Edit: I can also vouch for Thechemist's soldering work as he uses proper techniques, standards and equipment as much as possible.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Bromono on Tue, 10 February 2015, 11:47:05
thechemist hands down.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: FreeCopy on Wed, 11 February 2015, 07:03:23
I'm a bit more disappointed in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMAv0Ln2lSM) though, as it shows soldering from the top side of through hole component, with no fillet and a flush cut on the other side. Future desoldering issues aside (can't wiggle the pin), the general guideline for TH parts is to get a fillet on both sides which more securely holds the part.

Damn! I just did this a couple of hours ago to the top row of my Phantom board because of another GON video similar to this one. First keyboard soldering job and I'm doing it wrong. Perfect.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: sethk_ on Wed, 11 February 2015, 18:19:47

I'm a bit more disappointed in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMAv0Ln2lSM) though, as it shows soldering from the top side of through hole component, with no fillet and a flush cut on the other side. Future desoldering issues aside (can't wiggle the pin), the general guideline for TH parts is to get a fillet on both sides which more securely holds the part.
If I understand what you are saying, you mean that to put solder on both sides of the board on the pads? If GON is using a A style or B style board, they do not have solder pads on both sides of the board, they are only on one side.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Parak on Wed, 11 February 2015, 19:38:39

I'm a bit more disappointed in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMAv0Ln2lSM) though, as it shows soldering from the top side of through hole component, with no fillet and a flush cut on the other side. Future desoldering issues aside (can't wiggle the pin), the general guideline for TH parts is to get a fillet on both sides which more securely holds the part.
If I understand what you are saying, you mean that to put solder on both sides of the board on the pads? If GON is using a A style or B style board, they do not have solder pads on both sides of the board, they are only on one side.

Ah, I see. That's rather interesting - it seems like a design choice to me, to not have any components/leads/fillets showing on the top side of the PCB. I can't say I'm a fan of that - there are certainly other options, like using SMD diodes along with SMD resistors on the bottom, or simply top siding the TH parts. Having no TH pads on the top basically means that the top side annular ring for all pads is extremely minimal - I don't want to go into too much technical detail as to why this might be bad, but it's just generally not a very good idea, especially when done for aesthetic reasons only. One simple reason is if you have traces coming off of pads with minimal annular ring - that creates a very small copper area connection to the TH which may separate during board flexing or during soldering..
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: sethk_ on Wed, 11 February 2015, 19:40:38

I'm a bit more disappointed in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMAv0Ln2lSM) though, as it shows soldering from the top side of through hole component, with no fillet and a flush cut on the other side. Future desoldering issues aside (can't wiggle the pin), the general guideline for TH parts is to get a fillet on both sides which more securely holds the part.
If I understand what you are saying, you mean that to put solder on both sides of the board on the pads? If GON is using a A style or B style board, they do not have solder pads on both sides of the board, they are only on one side.

Ah, I see. That's rather interesting - it seems like a design choice to me, to not have any components/leads/fillets showing on the top side of the PCB. I can't say I'm a fan of that - there are certainly other options, like using SMD diodes along with SMD resistors on the bottom, or simply top siding the TH parts. Having no TH pads on the top basically means that the top side annular ring for all pads is extremely minimal - I don't want to go into too much technical detail as to why this might be bad, but it's just generally not a very good idea, especially when done for aesthetic reasons only. One simple reason is if you have traces coming off of pads with minimal annular ring - that creates a very small copper area connection to the TH which may separate during board flexing or during soldering..
The B series uses SMD components
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: katushkin on Wed, 11 February 2015, 19:41:13
Well I am definitely on the lookout for a new UK based solderer since Margo is so busy on the JD40 project... :(
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Parak on Wed, 11 February 2015, 19:43:51
The B series uses SMD components

Happen to have a link to high res shots of the front and back of the board? If SMD components are used, there's no reason to not have full annular rings on the rest of components, assuming that they are the Cherry switches and their LED pads. Those you don't see the top side fillet anyway as it's under the switch.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: sethk_ on Wed, 11 February 2015, 19:46:55
The B series uses SMD components

Happen to have a link to high res shots of the front and back of the board? If SMD components are used, there's no reason to not have full annular rings on the rest of components, assuming that they are the Cherry switches and their LED pads. Those you don't see the top side fillet anyway as it's under the switch.
Mine is packaged off to be repaired :<, but this you can probably find some on winkeyless.kr
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Parak on Wed, 11 February 2015, 20:06:22
Found some high resolution stuff of the 108, and I think I see what is going on there - the top pads have a full annular ring, but they are covered by the solder mask. That's actually not as bad! Well, other than because of that you still can't form fillets on both sides of TH parts as would be normal during regular soldering :(
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Puddsy on Wed, 11 February 2015, 20:06:36
margo or maybe GON

JD is good too
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: Thechemist on Wed, 11 February 2015, 21:35:52
No offense to the OP but I don't really care to much for threads like this, instead I made this (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=68712.0) so that we can all benefit from it.
Title: Re: Who's the best solderer on GH?
Post by: thp777 on Thu, 12 February 2015, 14:41:55
What i do for fun next to a dime.
(http://i60.tinypic.com/1zldduw.jpg)