[Elecraft] Sorting Parts

[Dauer, Edward]

The muffin tin and the egg crate are my favorites.  The tin is grounded with copper braid to the same ground point as the ESD mat.  As for egg crates, for kits with PCB components like the K2 line I use the cardboard version rather than the styrofoam, and that for the same reason that I don’t use plastic bins for any electronic components.  I don’t want those parts in any container that can take an electrostatic charge.  Many plastics and styro do.

During construction easy-remove masking tape is also handy.  I use it to label otherwise illegible small capacitors during sorting; and on the PCB kits to hold components like relays, some hardware pieces, and the leads for grounding crystals, in place long enough to fashion them in properly.  The kind of tape used for delicate wallpapers peels off leaving no residue.

My congrats and thanks to whomever it was that invented the nylon stocking over the vacuum hose as a way to find the escapees that leapt to the floor.  Resourcefulness is the hallmark ham tradition.  That one is brilliant!

Ted, KN1CBR