Leg Bender

StigOfTheDump

Senior Member
Years ago I used to have a little tool for bending the legs on resistors. I think it came free with Everday Electronics magazine in the early 70s.



Does anyone know if they are still made? I can't find anything similar at Rapid or Maplin but I wouldn't really know what to call it. I found a thread about making one with veroboard and perspex.

This thing was really good. Damn careless of me to have misplaced it over the last 30 years.
 

BeanieBots

Moderator
Not sure from your picture if I'm thinking of the same device but do you mean a "Leg STRAIGHTENER". ie to make the legs fit into an IC socket.
If yes, then hold chip firmly at both ends and push firmly against a hard flat surface. It's worked well for me for the last 40 years.

Ah, EC to the rescue as usual.
Even easier. Thin nosed pliers with indelible marks scibed along its jaws to indicate each 0.1" pitch.
For lengths longer than the width of your pliers, estimate first bend, place leg in vero hole, then grip with pliers at required second hole position and bend.
 
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John O

Senior Member
Years ago I used to have a little tool for bending the legs on resistors. I think it came free with Everday Electronics magazine in the early 70s.
This thing was really good. Damn careless of me to have misplaced it over the last 30 years.
Something like this? http://evilmadscience.com/partsmenu/68-bender

"Resistor lead forming tool" brings up a few hits in Google so you should find a local(ish) supplier.

Do you remember a plastic horseshoe shaped tool for removing ICs that was given away by the same magazine? (I've still got mine :) But I've lost the IC insertion tool - a plastic plunger affair with a rubber band "spring" !

John.
 

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fernando_g

Senior Member
Now that we old geezers are reminiscing about ancient semiconductor tools, how about the spring-loaded tweezer that you would clamp on each transistor leg as you soldered it...prevented heat from damaging the delicate germanium junctions. Alligator clips would also work.
 

BeanieBots

Moderator
Do you remember a plastic horseshoe shaped tool for removing ICs that was given away by the same magazine? (I've still got mine :) But I've lost the IC insertion tool - a plastic plunger affair with a rubber band "spring" !
John.
Yes! I've probably still got both somewhere.
Tied them once, didn't like either. The insertion tool was well... words don't describe it. The removal tool nearly always resulted in badly bent legs. (of the IC Dippy!).

@fernando_g, remember only too well. It was actually required back then. Don't think I've ever (or even heard of) a silicon device being solder damaged in the last couple of decades.
 

westaust55

Moderator
Even easier. Thin nosed pliers with indelible marks scibed along its jaws to indicate each 0.1" pitch.
For lengths longer than the width of your pliers, estimate first bend, place leg in vero hole, then grip with pliers at required second hole position and bend.
Exactly the methods I have used all those years. :eek:

near tip of my needle nose pliers = 0.1 inch and near the rear = 0.2 inch
 

geoff07

Senior Member
I still solder the odd germanium tranny, when fixing old receivers. I remember the tweezer heatsink, but have to use the croc clips today. Though old germanium transistors that work are getting a bit scarce (esp the ones in tin cans) due to the shorting due to tin whiskers. Quite an interesting subject that, which has already cost at least one communications satellite.

Nasa has a web site http://nepp.nasa.gov/whisker/index.html explaining the problem. Apparently micro-scale crystals of tin grow out of the tin coating inside the can and eventually short the connections. I suspect that many things made of lead-free solder will eventually go the same way.
 

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
I guess I'm showing my age, but I got one of those blue/turquoise lead bending jigs "Presented free with Practical Electronics 1976" when I was a teenager, too. I still have it but found it to be a little soft for bending component leads in summer.

Nowadays, I use an offcut of Dick Smith stripboard ("veroboard"). The Dick Smith boards have row numbers etched along the edge of the bord, making it easy to count off multiples of 0.1".
 

Dippy

Moderator
I used to bend the legs over the edge of a piece of PCB.

I'm still not sure if Stiggy is talking pre-forming or reforming (as in straightening the legs of a chip) ?

Now, all those with nervous wallets please sit down...

I got fed up with using my finger to bend components.
I got tired of oxide stains on my finger-tips after bending 50 resistors.
I bought 2 pre-forming tools.
One was an expensive one like this.
http://uk.farnell.com/abeco/tp12/cut-form-tool-lead-small/dp/441065
It used to be made in Europe , but now made in China AND the bloody price has shot up. Tight money-grabbing sods. (Get it made on-the-cheap AND stick the price up. That really mucks me off)
The other device was similar but didn't chop the leads. It cost about £15 but I can't remember where I bought it.

Obv we can go mad and get a big machine, but assuming we're vaguely in the hobby workd where a 100 resistors is a lot, using pre-forming tools made a huge difference. Stick it in and squeeze. Job done. No sore fingers.
 

premelec

Senior Member
smd...

Ah the good old days of resistors and such for through hole work with with wires sticking out of them and beautiful colored bands - I have thousands of the cuties - and nothing beats the smell of the old composition resistor smoking out... now it's on to tiny things with barely any numbers showing and no colored bands or wires - dull stuff... :) I think every so often of turning the old stuff into some sort of art work... The colors made 'em instantaneously recognizable [who could miss 33K? or 22K ] the tiny bits all look the same... no art there.

I have old plastic lead benders - but do very little bending these days... after all resistors just lose power - the smaller the less... :-0
 

John O

Senior Member
Yes! I've probably still got both somewhere.
Tied them once, didn't like either. The insertion tool was well... words don't describe it. The removal tool nearly always resulted in badly bent legs. (of the IC Dippy!).

@fernando_g, remember only too well. It was actually required back then. Don't think I've ever (or even heard of) a silicon device being solder damaged in the last couple of decades.
I must admit that I never mastered them either and I certainly can't improve on your description of the insertion tool!

I only very rarely buy any of those magazines these days. Too expensive, too repetative and tend to be little more than equipment reviews that I could never hope to be able to afford :(

Over the years, programming has made me lazy - all that "physical work" when you can sit at a keyboard - but I have to say that Picaxe has renewed my interest a lot. I might even be tempted to browse through a couple of the mags again to see if they're more hands-on again than they'd become.

John.
 

fernando_g

Senior Member
Ah the good old days of resistors and such for through hole work with with wires sticking out of them and beautiful colored bands - :-0
Not only those, but do you remeber color coded ceramic caps? And power trannies with EIA color coded leads? (Red- HV, Yellow- rectifier filament, Brown- filaments, Black- AC mains)
 
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hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
As 1/4-watt resistor bodies are a pretty standard length and 0.4" leg pitch is okay for vero-board and bread-board, I find that gripping at the end of long nose pliers up against the ceramic body and bending the leg over the other side works well.

As the pliers taper it's possible to saw notches for where best to hold for 0.4" and 0.5" pitch if you want to get more exact but 'at the end' works for me.
 

premelec

Senior Member
@ fernando - yes I've got many silver mica capacitors as well as the corning glass equivalent - and toroids are really exciting... ! Not to mention roller inductors and all the other parts of this trade past and present. Things with 120 legs coming out the bottom I find confusing though pretty if gold plated... :)

@ hippy I am shocked... just shocked... that you are sawing slots in your tools! :)
 

BeanieBots

Moderator
Not only those, but do you remeber color coded ceramic caps? And power trannies with EIA color coded leads? (Red- HV, Yellow- rectifier filament, Brown- filaments, Black- AC mains)
Yes indeed. Still got drawers full of them! Look good enough to eat.
I still have a tendancy to wire black for mains which is bad habbit these days:eek: (easy to remember black = death)

What's with the modern brown = live. To me, brown is more of an 'earth' colour and that bright green and yellow one looks like it's trying to signify something dangerous :confused: Maybe a nice red would be a good colour for live. Oh yes, it was for while! Oh well, I'm sure somebody got paid a lot to think it all out and harmonise the colours.
 

StigOfTheDump

Senior Member
Thanks for all the suggestions. I couldn't find anything local where the postage wasn't twice the price of the item. I have now found a UK supplier but he doesn't have an online shop. You have to email him and wait for a quote. If it turns out OK I will post a link.
 

BeanieBots

Moderator
Interestingly, since the start of this thread I've produced and tested a Eurocard sized vero board almost fully populated with many descrete resisitors without the aid of such a tool and I'm £24 better off for not having one.:p
 

Dippy

Moderator
Thats exactly the same as the one I suggested on a previous page , but at a FAR better price. Well spotted Slimmy , you are truly wonderful.

I would recommend to anyone who envisages bending/clipping more than a few dozen resistors / diodes / axial caps etc. that you should perhaps consider a tool like this.
They really are good as long as you understand the limitations.
Spending 30 quid is better than several years-worth of w.cramp if you take electronics seriously.

If you need to pre-form and clip 50 resistors you could do it with this tool in 2 or 3 minutes. And the bend radius is good. And the clipping is really useful.
Try it , you'll never go back.


If, of course, you are just doing a few and have all day then those bits of plastic are probably fine.


If you want stupid colour codes then look no further than 3-phase cable colours (internationally and historically).
I've got no real problems with Blue being neutral - it's a sort of popular water colour (I don't mean a painting).
Green is a sort plant like down-to-earth colour , though I admit brown seems logical.
Are any of these colours chosen to help colour-blind , dyslexic electricians?

Anyway, I think the best thing to do is , like most things, learn them and get on with it. And forget any feelings you have in your bowels. ;)
 

slimplynth

Senior Member
I'd like to take full credit but serendipity dictated that I only glance over the general posts to catch up :D

BB has to be right, Hippy uses a multitool that he made himself.. at the end of the day one more tool is a tool that the Tool Fairies will one day whisk away... Damned Sprites, where is my Mini Rolson/Multi Screw Driver with bendable extension shaft?
 

slimplynth

Senior Member
Toilet Humour and educational... that's a keeper :)

Edit: I take it back, buy one of those guns if you want to make PCBs, and the new cordless dremel if you can blow the cash. The gun, measures - sets and bends.. that sounds too functional to ignore.
 
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Minifig666

Senior Member
If you've just won a lot of dosh on the 'pick numbers and pray' game, you could have this!
If there was a way you could get it to make jumpers and got some cheap fishing tackle boxes you could make a mint at the price they charge for the boxes of jumpers!
 

Dippy

Moderator
Haha, I predicted that suggestion in Post#15.
"Obv we can go mad and get a big machine,..."

My new crystal ball is excellent. I got it from Wellworths.;)

PS. Those pre-forming hand-job tools are good for making links out of wire too. Any pitch you like (within reason).
 

Minifig666

Senior Member
Dippy, is that ball made of quartz crystals and some nifty soldering or just glass. If quartz then are there any in there good for VGA timing signals?

Perhaps using a load of these (at 18p) you could make an xtal ball. Incidentally they are exactly the right ones for the DS1307, an their pretty accurate.

I doubt you could sell that bottle cutter today, I can already imagine how many shards of glass people got in their feet. I'm glad it wasn't $1.11 cheaper.
 
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