Help finding those "highly reccomended tools"

[niccolo]

Hi, I'll begin soon building my A12 and N72 and i'd like to start good and do my homeworks correctly.
Reading the assembly instructions I see that i've already got all of the essential tools, but i'd like to have also those "highly reccomended tools" namely:
Lead bender (Mouser 5166-801) : found it @mouser so it's ok
T-Handle wrench and 4-40 tap (Hanson 12001 and 8012) : maybe i got the t-handle thing but i have no idea what a tap is and cannot find a hanson company around, a link would be appreciated
MOLEX crimp tool (Waldom W-HT1919 or equivalent) : again, i cannot find a waldom company on the net.
please consider that I have an account with farnell but i still have troubles finding this stuff, so if anyone found the above via farnell i'd be very grateful for some links.
thanks a lot

[Commodor]

Hi, I just finished my first N72 here and all went well. I didn't have some of those 'highly recommended' tools either. In fact when I went to a local electronics store and asked for a 'lead bender' I thought the old gentleman there was going to snicker... but he was a nice guy really and he managed not to.

For that I just used some needle nose pliers because I was ready to start and didn't want to wait for an order to get shipped to me. It's easy to gauge the place to bend the wire of the resistor by comparing a resistor to one of the locations on the circuit board where it should fit.. then just go ahead and bend them all after making sure the first one is correct. I would rather have the proper bender mind you.. but it's not a huge deal really... not a show stopper, at least in my opinion.

Didn't have the T-handle either but did get the tap... at a hardware type store that has tools and lots of other stuff. A 'tap' is used to 'tap' new threads into something that doesn't have any.. so that a screw will fit into it. The audio connectors for the N72 are not 'tapped' for screws so that has to be done.

I actually used mine in my portable drill... after first securing the connector carefully with a small vise... and then very carefully using the drill to do the tapping! I don't recommend that anyone do this but it did work out OK for me... definitely you need a vari-speed drill of course and go slow with it. Back it out any time it feels too tight or that it's binding. Also make absolutely sure the tap is centered if you do this or you might end up wallowing out the hole and/or messing up the threads.

The Molex tool I don't have either (this is getting rather predictable isn't it? . Now... I would recommend getting one of these.. but.. you can do it without it if need be. Just put the metal clip parts in a small vise or alligator clip holder... tin the wire first and then the part of the clip where the wire goes and then hold the wire in place with one hand and heat up the joint untill it's soldered in there. Then you can still clamp it with some small pliers. I personally never really trusted crimps anyway.. though they should hold if you have the right parts and tools.

I'm not at all trying to convince anyone to NOT get the 'recommended tools'.. but just saying here that it is possible to work without them and obtain decent results if you're careful!

But one thing I would definitely recommend if you haven't already done it.. be sure to have a very small tip for whatever iron you're going to use. I already had a good Weller Soldering Station but replaced the original tip with a very fine tipped one and got the small solder as recommended. And I second that recommendation whole heartedly! I would hate to have tried this with the old, bigger tip... or the bigger solder that I often used. I'm sure I would have made quite the mess that way.

Hopefully you'll get your 'recommended tools'. If not... proceed with caution but don't be afraid to get started!

Best of luck with it!

Commodor

[niccolo]

Thanks a lot for your answer and your tips Commodor.
Fact is that I'm leaving for an Ireland tour today and I'll be on the road for two weeks, so I have no hurry to begin my kits. Two weeks is also the time it would take my new "highly reccomended tools" (HRT from now on.. ) to arrive..

thanks again

niccolo' gallio

[Commodor]

sorry.. accidental double post

[Commodor]

Hey... enjoy your tour Niccolo'! That sounds awesome. And nice that the timing works out so well for those HRT's!

Take care!

Commodor

[tpryan]

T-Handle wrench and 4-40 tap (Hanson 12001 and 8012) : maybe i got the t-handle thing but i have no idea what a tap is and cannot find a hanson company around, a link would be appreciated
MOLEX crimp tool (Waldom W-HT1919 or equivalent) : again, i cannot find a waldom company on the net.

Just google the part numbers, you'll find plenty of links.

[Commodor]

Those 'highly recommended tools' were obviously highly recommended for good reasons.

For the next N72's I'm assembling I've picked up a crimping tool and a lead bender, as well as a Panavise 324 Work Center that includes the wide base (with parts wells for screws, etc), solder station, and circuit board arms. The Panavise is very cool!

I'm thinking I'll add a second set of circuit board holders as there's room to mount 2 circuits boards on the Panavise simultaneously... so I could build 2 N72's side by side then.

I haven't had time to get seriously into these yet but I've set up the vise and mounted the circuit board and I can easily see that this, along with the other tools, will definitely add considerably to the ease, speed and enjoyment of the process, as well as minimizing the chances of error and mishap... very worth the money spent.

While I'm here let me also add that I found the instructions for assembly really, really well done and extremely helpful. Thanks!

Commodor

[niccolo]

DOH!
Just googled all of the part numbers along with producer names (as Tim suggested) and found everything...
MEGADOH!

thanks to everyone

P.s. coming back tomorrow morning from a great Ireland tour, let's see if i get the time to assemble a kit (or two...)