Looking forward to the next installment on this. I find that taping down the two wires gapped for the size of smd led and then using tweezers to hold the led in place works pretty well. Two quick touches with the iron and done. Afterwards, sometimes I encase the led in UV glue to give the solder joints some support and keep the lense of the led in the right position..
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and tip. I've seen something about taping down the wires before (it was in an Instructables article), and I did have a quick go, but physics just seemed to be behaving differently at this scale - everything was too springy! The quick dap with a soldering iron doesn't seem to work for me very often either. Nice idea about the encasing glue! I've got a slightly larger LED now, but it might be a while until I come back to this for a third round (I've already done a second video, looks like I neglected to add a link at the end of this one - done now!)
Good morning Jonathan! Thanks for the warning up front - you know how I worry! Lol! It all looked incredibly intricate, and I can't believe how small that LED was compared to the tip of the soldering iron! Regarding the tubes collapsing and "trapping" the rods, when I cut the brass tubes for my point rodding, I cut them with the rod inserted into the tube! It seems to stop the tube collapsing! I've also cut them using my Dremel with reasonable success! Keep up the good work! All the best, Ian.
Hi Ian! You were one of the people I had in mind with the warning, lol. Thanks for the tip - I think I'll try that if I do end up needing rods-in-tubes bits. Since making the video I found out the rods are actually 0.3mm, so I was never going to succeed getting them into a 0.2mm tube! Thanks
many moons ago I had some of those kits, the fact you even got the arm to move is jaw dropping, never mind making the back shield and balance arm all move too very impressive
Thank you, that's kind of you to say so! It's certainly been very fiddly so far, and I'm not sure how well it's going to hold up to being controlled by a servo! I figure worst case scenario is that I'll just have the arm directly attached to the servo.
To solder the LEDs you would need to hold the tinned wire flat on the surface with a weight, Bluetac or tape. Have the LED face up next to it and then use tweezers to position it just on the wire, while holding it in position and pushing down gently, a quick touch of the iron to the end of the LED/wire will do the job then do the same on the other end. This is the same as surface mounting. Only grip it gently as you only need to hold it still and stop it sticking to the iron, otherwise it will fly off to small parts heaven never to be seen again.
Thanks for the ideas - I tried taping the wires without success, but I've since found some much finer tweezers that might make holding the LED possible whilst soldering. Things certainly want to ping away never to be seen again! Even if I got wires connected I'm not sure they'd stay on for long with such a small contact area. Thanks!
I like this idea - I do actually have tiny fibre optic cables for just this, but also bought with the smaller T gauge colour signals in mind. I haven't done much experimentation, but the issue I've had is getting the cable round very tight corners - it basically breaks if the turn is too tight. I'll give it another go though if I can't get LEDs to work, thanks!
I've never soldered anything that small, but I didn't see any flux. May have been there, but if not, you need flux. Once tinned with flux, I generally focus on heating the wire rather than the LED. then just bring the hot tip of the wire to the LED. You'll want a heat sink on the "cool" end of the wire to keep from melting the insulation. I'm sure there are videos that better explain than I can describe in a short comment. Good luck!
Thanks for the hints! I didn't film most of what I tried, or talk about it in much detail because I didn't have footage to go with it, but I did use flux. That said, it may well have evaporated over the number of attempts I was making! Good idea about heating the wire slightly away from the LED - I tried that once or twice but should perhaps have given it more time. I'm not convinced that even if I got both wires attached that they'd stay on for long - the contact area is so small! Your advice is likely to come in handy when I try slightly larger LEDs too though. Thanks 👍
You have the patience of a saint and the eyes of an Eagle👏
Thanks! I find my patience lasts so long as I can see I'm making progress, but being able to see these things is all down to the magnifying glass ;)
Looking forward to the next installment on this. I find that taping down the two wires gapped for the size of smd led and then using tweezers to hold the led in place works pretty well. Two quick touches with the iron and done. Afterwards, sometimes I encase the led in UV glue to give the solder joints some support and keep the lense of the led in the right position..
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and tip. I've seen something about taping down the wires before (it was in an Instructables article), and I did have a quick go, but physics just seemed to be behaving differently at this scale - everything was too springy! The quick dap with a soldering iron doesn't seem to work for me very often either. Nice idea about the encasing glue! I've got a slightly larger LED now, but it might be a while until I come back to this for a third round (I've already done a second video, looks like I neglected to add a link at the end of this one - done now!)
Looks to be watchmaker territory for sure, very enjoyable.
Maybe I should try searching specifically for watchmaker supplies, see what comes up! Thanks 😊
Good morning Jonathan! Thanks for the warning up front - you know how I worry! Lol! It all looked incredibly intricate, and I can't believe how small that LED was compared to the tip of the soldering iron! Regarding the tubes collapsing and "trapping" the rods, when I cut the brass tubes for my point rodding, I cut them with the rod inserted into the tube! It seems to stop the tube collapsing! I've also cut them using my Dremel with reasonable success! Keep up the good work! All the best, Ian.
Hi Ian! You were one of the people I had in mind with the warning, lol. Thanks for the tip - I think I'll try that if I do end up needing rods-in-tubes bits. Since making the video I found out the rods are actually 0.3mm, so I was never going to succeed getting them into a 0.2mm tube! Thanks
many moons ago I had some of those kits, the fact you even got the arm to move is jaw dropping, never mind making the back shield and balance arm all move too
very impressive
Thank you, that's kind of you to say so! It's certainly been very fiddly so far, and I'm not sure how well it's going to hold up to being controlled by a servo! I figure worst case scenario is that I'll just have the arm directly attached to the servo.
To solder the LEDs you would need to hold the tinned wire flat on the surface with a weight, Bluetac or tape. Have the LED face up next to it and then use tweezers to position it just on the wire, while holding it in position and pushing down gently, a quick touch of the iron to the end of the LED/wire will do the job then do the same on the other end. This is the same as surface mounting. Only grip it gently as you only need to hold it still and stop it sticking to the iron, otherwise it will fly off to small parts heaven never to be seen again.
Thanks for the ideas - I tried taping the wires without success, but I've since found some much finer tweezers that might make holding the LED possible whilst soldering. Things certainly want to ping away never to be seen again! Even if I got wires connected I'm not sure they'd stay on for long with such a small contact area. Thanks!
Great job
Thanks :)
I wonder if you could use fiber optic strands or similar as a light pipe to transmit light from a larger, hidden LED to where the signal is?
I like this idea - I do actually have tiny fibre optic cables for just this, but also bought with the smaller T gauge colour signals in mind. I haven't done much experimentation, but the issue I've had is getting the cable round very tight corners - it basically breaks if the turn is too tight. I'll give it another go though if I can't get LEDs to work, thanks!
That's a technique used over 30 years ago when bulbs were about 5mm and the smallest LED was 3mm.
I've never soldered anything that small, but I didn't see any flux. May have been there, but if not, you need flux. Once tinned with flux, I generally focus on heating the wire rather than the LED. then just bring the hot tip of the wire to the LED. You'll want a heat sink on the "cool" end of the wire to keep from melting the insulation. I'm sure there are videos that better explain than I can describe in a short comment. Good luck!
Thanks for the hints! I didn't film most of what I tried, or talk about it in much detail because I didn't have footage to go with it, but I did use flux. That said, it may well have evaporated over the number of attempts I was making! Good idea about heating the wire slightly away from the LED - I tried that once or twice but should perhaps have given it more time. I'm not convinced that even if I got both wires attached that they'd stay on for long - the contact area is so small! Your advice is likely to come in handy when I try slightly larger LEDs too though. Thanks 👍