DIY Electronics: How to Cut the Leads on Components

[amirm]

When you assemble "through hole" components, you push the leads of components through the PCB. The leads can be as long as 1 inch so they need to be cut off. I once sat there and cut them off from hundreds of boards. Man that was tiring.

Here is how it gets done in China:

Holy cow! He is one slip away from losing his fingers or even whole hand.

 

[Wombat]

Sadly, working conditions are often ignored in 'off-shoring' of jobs in the pursuit of profits. Company shareholders can make things better but are generally diffident.

 

[amirm]

Definitely. Even in Japan the standards are lower than US. I remember going to visit a manufacturing facility when I worked for Sony that handled Magnesium (specialized work). I took my mechanical engineer with me who use to work for Apple. When we got to this (small) factory in a remote area, my mechanical engineer was very surprised by the lack of safety standards around the multi-ton presses.

 

[Wombat]

De-regulation forces are at work in the west to lower(and have lowered) hard won standards using 'jobs' as justification. A race to third world status?

 

[Cosmik]

I once read somewhere that in the British military, technicians are taught to re-solder over the ends of snipped leads to prevent oxidation getting into the joints. Once I heard that, I always found myself compelled to do the same.

 

[Don Hills]

That may possibly have some real world benefit, if trimming the lead applies enough force to form a tiny gap on the surface where the lead and the solder meet. And then only if the joint has been poorly made and the solder doesn't form a meniscus.
But it ignores the flux and other contaminants that remain around the lead in the through-board hole after cleaning.

 

[iridium]

Definitely. Even in Japan the standards are lower than US. I remember going to visit a manufacturing facility when I worked for Sony that handled Magnesium (specialized work). I took my mechanical engineer with me who use to work for Apple. When we got to this (small) factory in a remote area, my mechanical engineer was very surprised by the lack of safety standards around the multi-ton presses.

NATURAL SELECTION.

iridium.