Troubleshooting Resources
Electronic Tool Tip #1 - FRP Tube Pin Straightener
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I came across this tool while searching for an obscure vacuum tube on ebay.com one day, and I decided then to buy one and to give it a try-out. I was pleasantly surprised by the results. The tube that I was searching for had a Compactron base, and I had used that term in my search query, which is how I ended up finding this handy tool. The tool is a vacuum tube pin straightener, designed to straighten and align the pins of some of the most popular vacuum tube base types out there, namely the miniature seven-pin, the miniature nine-pin, the |
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miniature ten-pin, the Magnoval, the Noval, and the Compactron bases.
The tool is fabricated from a piece of one-quarter-inch thick FR4 fiberglass board material, and it is precisely machined as to its general form and its pin openings. Each of the pin openings is wider at the tool surface, where the pins get inserted, and then the holes taper down to the final pin diameter, bringing misaligned pins into shape quickly and easily.
There are a pair of countersunk holes in the body of the tool, useful for mounting the tool to a bench top for stationary use, where it would not take up much space, being a mere two and a half inches in diameter.
Unlike some other tube pin straighteners out there, this one does not have vertical guides for the tubes, meaning that both large-envelope more modern tubes and miniature-envelope vintage tubes will fit the tool equally well.
The tool costs $29.95 (USD) from Vintage Electron via their eBay storefront, where this vendor has a 99.9% positive rating over almost 16,000 transactions. The vendor reports that they will give one of these tools free with each order over $250 from their storefront, where they deal with all kinds of vintage electronics parts and components.
I much prefer this tool to the newer series of same-priced 3-D printed straighteners offered by other vendors on the auction site. I believe that this tool, due to its machined holes rather than printed holes, will be more accurate. I also believe that the tool’s material of construction will make it more durable than the 3-D printed versions.
Go to ebay.com/itm/224424049020 to investigate this tool for yourself.
The tool is fabricated from a piece of one-quarter-inch thick FR4 fiberglass board material, and it is precisely machined as to its general form and its pin openings. Each of the pin openings is wider at the tool surface, where the pins get inserted, and then the holes taper down to the final pin diameter, bringing misaligned pins into shape quickly and easily.
There are a pair of countersunk holes in the body of the tool, useful for mounting the tool to a bench top for stationary use, where it would not take up much space, being a mere two and a half inches in diameter.
Unlike some other tube pin straighteners out there, this one does not have vertical guides for the tubes, meaning that both large-envelope more modern tubes and miniature-envelope vintage tubes will fit the tool equally well.
The tool costs $29.95 (USD) from Vintage Electron via their eBay storefront, where this vendor has a 99.9% positive rating over almost 16,000 transactions. The vendor reports that they will give one of these tools free with each order over $250 from their storefront, where they deal with all kinds of vintage electronics parts and components.
I much prefer this tool to the newer series of same-priced 3-D printed straighteners offered by other vendors on the auction site. I believe that this tool, due to its machined holes rather than printed holes, will be more accurate. I also believe that the tool’s material of construction will make it more durable than the 3-D printed versions.
Go to ebay.com/itm/224424049020 to investigate this tool for yourself.