Summary

A slight remix of Heat Insert Handle Mod by DavidJohnson"

Watch Davids video (here).

David's mod uses a low cost Mic Stand (these are actually lamp stands repurposed IMHO, see image above) and a 3D Printed Handle to build a Brass Insertion Tool. This makes perfect sense, rather than construct one using v-wheels, belts, extrusions, etc., It should also cost a lot less...

The Iron used is a Hakko (or similar Iron or clone) and a set of low cost brass bits (available on Aliexpress/eBay/Amazon etc...).

The Mic/Lamp stand can be purchased for about €20, a set of brass insertion bits cost ~ €5, the Iron should cost about €50 (actually any soldering iron / station / clone that uses the same iron will work).

My version includes a printed grip (to save some money), the handle is slightly modified to includes a cutout for very low cost bubble level (15x8mm) which should help with alignment. I try to design stl files so that they don't require supports, to this end parts are often split...

Updates

The Mic stand arrived today, good quality but the part that connects to bench is not quite as strong as others I have... it should still do the job.

The threaded metal part is probably M9, I only have M8 inserts... so reverting to original circular handle only this one is stronger (see New Handle)...

Mike