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[tony65]

ok as you all know by now i'm new to the subject , ok need a little help (yes i really am this thick)
tried the licking of fingers and touching the soldered parts to find where it makes most bends (if that makes sense)

so what next , i know i need wire etc , but what do i do now (feel so stupid asking but i need to learn somewhere)

found some great kids toys for my first try's , just need step by step info , if anyone can help please do , in other words what components do i use to make these damn things work 

tony

[Dylan]

If you already found your bend points, you're going to need to figure out what components you're going to use. If the effect is a drop or raise in the pitch, go find a variable resistor of some sort. This can be a potentiometer, photocell, and a bunch of other things.

If it's your first bend (which since you're asking this, I assume it is) you may want to think about using body contacts. A body contact can be any metal bit you can find. Screws and thumbtacks work great. If you use thumbtacks, just poke them through the case of the toy and then solder your wires to the metal points poking through. Solder the other ends of those wires to the bend points on the circuit board.

If you find a glitch, use a switch. There are TONS of different switches. You'll want to find one that is SPST (Single Pole Single Throw). These can either be a toggle switch or a pushbutton. Just drill a hole into the device your bending to mount the switch and then from the wires coming from the bend point, solder them to the two lugs coming from the switch.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

[Circuitbenders]

i might have posted this here before, but one thing thats incredibly useful for finding bend points on toys etc is something like this:

 

Thats a small box with two sockets and a switch that either connects the sockets straight together or connects them via a 470K pot. Plug two probes into the sockets and you've got a basic bend finding tool.

[electoyd]

be careful when licking your fingers and playing about on the board then sticking them back in your mouth, alot of these old boards will have lead solder and your sticking it straight in your mouth.  As a means of finding bends it is pretty useful but as a health tool it sucks, i would try a bend finding tool like the one Paul has shown above, you can build one very easily and when you find something interesting happening on the board you can decide whether a pot or a switch is preferable with out having to fanny about.  I've seen them with maybe 4 pots in line so you can even decide what size of pot it should be.

[Gordonjcp]

You can't get lead poisoning from handling PCBs, unless you're actually grinding them up and snorting them.

That said, it's quite possible for yucky things to be on second-hand equipment - I can *still* smell the Atari 800 that had been sealed up in a polythene bag after a small child had puked orange juice into the keyboard, some 20 years later.

[Dylan]

You can't get lead poisoning from handling PCBs, unless you're actually grinding them up and snorting them.

Wait wait wait, that's not how you're supposed to do it?!

[electoyd]

Gordon that wasn't what i said, i said be careful if you are licking your fingers, playing about on the board whilst wet then sticking them back in your mouth!!  You may think that lead poisoning is a fantasy, but i think it is very real.  I dont think it is cool to tell newbies that sticking lead in your gob is in any way not harmful, when you are starting out it is good to develop good practise like taking care with lead and what you inhale if you wanna do it for a while and not kark it due to some horrible illness.  If you think your immune to lead poisoning, great but that is just your opinion and i think your wrong, but that is just my opinion.  Now it is up to Tony to decide if he wants to take either of our advice or not.

[tony65]

Gordon that wasn't what i said, i said be careful if you are licking your fingers, playing about on the board whilst wet then sticking them back in your mouth!!  You may think that lead poisoning is a fantasy, but i think it is very real.  I dont think it is cool to tell newbies that sticking lead in your gob is in any way not harmful, when you are starting out it is good to develop good practise like taking care with lead and what you inhale if you wanna do it for a while and not kark it due to some horrible illness.  If you think your immune to lead poisoning, great but that is just your opinion and i think your wrong, but that is just my opinion.  Now it is up to Tony to decide if he wants to take either of our advice or not.

just like to say thanks for all the input , and all points are noted , i was licking the fingers , but its not like i've got my tongue stuck on the led solder all day , and ov course led poisoning is something i wish to avoid , so the picture of the bending finder box is my project for now , uch safer i think all round.

tony

[tony65]

You can't get lead poisoning from handling PCBs, unless you're actually grinding them up and snorting them.

That said, it's quite possible for yucky things to be on second-hand equipment - I can *still* smell the Atari 800 that had been sealed up in a polythene bag after a small child had puked orange juice into the keyboard, some 20 years later.

hhahahahah i can think ov better things to snort , but thats for another forum..... , but thanks

tony

[tony65]

i might have posted this here before, but one thing thats incredibly useful for finding bend points on toys etc is something like this:

 

Thats a small box with two sockets and a switch that either connects the sockets straight together or connects them via a 470K pot. Plug two probes into the sockets and you've got a basic bend finding tool.

whats the blue pole for ?? (god i'm thick  )

[Circuitbenders]

Thats the shaft from the crappy plastic potentiometer i used. Its been replaced with something better now as those pots are shit.

On the lead poisoning discussion up there. I do think the dangers of lead poisoning are very overstated and there are a lot more potentially nasty things you can find on an old circuitboard than lead based solder. Some of the fumes you get from the flux when reflowing old solder are pretty grim for a start, and leaking battery gunk and electrolyte from old caps isn't much fun.

Having said that, it probably isn't a good idea to ignore the issue completely and it is a good idea to take elementary precautions like washing your hands after holding a big reel of leaded solder etc.

[tony65]

well there is plenty of unleaded solder i've , apart from the obvious difference , is it ok to use unleaded??

tony

[Circuitbenders]

Don't use lead free solder if you can help it. Its horrible stuff.

It has a higher melting temperature, tis more difficult to get it to flow onto a joint properly and its generally a massive pain in the arse.

[jamiewoody]

same thing we do everyday pinky...try to take over the world!

[electoyd]

On the lead poisoning discussion up there. I do think the dangers of lead poisoning are very overstated

could that be because you havn't contracted a horrible ailment yet?  ask tin solder about the disease he picked up from fiddlin about on boards.  Lead builds up as deposits in your joints like your knees it shows up in x-rays! Your right though Paul there probably is worse stuff on a circuit board, but surely that means you should take even more care, no?  because all these crazy metals and chemicals together surely pose a greater risk and when mixed together probably give some unexpected cocktails.  I think people need to wisen up to what they are using, health and safety is a big void with circuit benders.  Think i need to chill now sorry for ranting!

Tony not sure if you bought any solder yet but if you stay in UK i have 2 rolls of lead free solder that i'm giving away (see the offload your shit section) for the price of a stamp i'll send you them so you can try them, i'll also throw in a length of leaded solder so you can compare them.  You should try things out and then at least you can see the good and bad points, i've used both and i use leaded solder now but unleaded solder was good enough for me for a while, then as the tech i was working on became smaller the unleaded became unworkable, leaded flows much better.  Gimmi a shout if you want it.