Jeff Liebermann wrote in
:

On Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:11:09 GMT, Doug White
wrote:

I usually use a tiny dab of flux, which holds the part in place. I
also have a "part holder" I built that I may put into production for
sale when I retire. It uses an orange stick with a bit of pivoting
weight to hold parts down. The orange stick can be whittled into any
shape that suits, and when it gets toasted, you just replace it.

The stick will need to have a tiny point as many components have
shrunk to almost invisible sizes. Try using a tooth pick instead of a
plastic stick. Maybe a spring loaded automatic test probe with a
stainless tip. Not a bad idea, but I don't see it as a big seller.

The big problem is that orange sticks & tooth picks aren't ESD safe.
Even if youy only use it on the body of the part, there are a lot of
shops that would freak at the mere thought. There is ESD safe teflon,
and that might work. It still needs to be pointed.

snip
Pace must have improved their stuff. We bought a full setup in the
mid- 80's, and it was a pain in the neck to use. It collected dust
within 6 months.

I have one of those from the 80's. It sucks, but was cheap. Until
recently, I haven't used it often enough to justify anything better.
The worst problems are that the foot pedal cord is too short, the
desoldering tip clogs constantly, the vacuum filter clogs because it's
too small, it takes 5 mins to get up to temperature, parts are
expensive, etc. The newer models are allegedly better, but still
quite expensive.
http://www.pacedirect.com

I figure they had to have made some improvements. I don't see how they
could still be in business if they were selling the same machine we had.
Your experience is pretty similar to ours. Constant clogging was the
bigg issue. That & the tips were pretty big even in those days. Now,
they'd be hopelessly huge.

Doug White