Date   : Fri, 05 Feb 2016 22:35:18 +0000
From   : philb@... (Phil Blundell)
Subject: Chip extractors - any recommendations?

On Fri, 2016-02-05 at 22:22 +0000, John wrote:
> Is that it - is there nothing out there for less than a tenner to take out
> chips than screwdrivers and brackets? Thought things would have moved on in
> 20 odd years...

I guess the main thing that's changed in those 20-odd years is that
modern PCBAs don't use DIL sockets any more.  You occasionally still see
socketed PLCCs (which have their own extractors) but even they are rare
nowadays.  So there probably just isn't much demand for better DIP
extraction tools.

I do have a couple of those "U" shaped tools but, if I need to get a DIP
part out of a socket, I must admit that I generally just use a
screwdriver.  I agree with Jeremy Nicoll that the main advantage of the
dedicated tools is that you can get them into tighter spaces, rather
than being somehow inherently more foolproof.

p.