A small package of 6000 SMD resistors just arrived from a Hong Kong eBay seller. It showed up promptly despite traveling halfway around the world, had neat packaging, and I’ll give ’em good feedback.
Also included was a free needle-tip tweezers, just exactly what you need for plucking those little ceramic rectangles from their packages. I already have a bunch of needle-tip tweezers in my rack, but you can never have too many tools and this one won’t go to waste.
The package has what appears to be comprehensive instructions in both Chinese and Japanese (to my untrained eyes, anyway). Not much in English, other than that Anti-magnetic, anti-acid and non-corrosive Stainless Steel line; perhaps this isn’t the export model. Indeed, it lacks the obligatory country-of-origin labeling, but, given where the package came from, one may reasonably assume the usual Chinese origin.
The tweezers are (almost illegibly) stamped STAINLESS NON-MAGNETIC and bear a tidy sticker: gooi TS-11 ANTIMAGNETIC.
The build quality and surface finish are, um, a bit rough, but Gooi seems really proud of their non/anti-magnetic properties.
Needless to say, a magnet sticks firmly…
I have no convenient way to test their anti-acid (whatever that is) and non-corrosive properties, but I’m betting these suckers are plain old Chinese mild steel, made from recycled US scrap. Perhaps the previous iteration was stainless and we’re stepping down the cost-saving ladder? If they would just change the packaging to match reality, that would be fine with me.
[Insert standard observations about Chinese quality control here.]
Y’know, come to think of it, I’m sort of wondering about those 6000 SMD resistors. With any luck they’ll actually work when I get around to using them. If not, I suppose it serves me right for buying direct from Hong Kong via eBay, eh?
And, yes, I know some stainless steel is magnetic.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
I do love a quality tweezer. I picked up some good looking needle tip ones at a hobby shop a while back, and immediately loved them. Of course, I soon dropped them, ruining the tips. I bent and filed them as best I could, but they were never the same. It took me a while to find another pair like them – they were very nice, but anonymous and unmarked. I finally found another pair of the same design and quality – Vomm 5a SA. Apparently there’s some sort of agreement in tweezer model numbers, as several other manufacturers offer a 5a SA that’s the same basic item. The 5a is a medium size tweezer, with the tips making an angle across the width (search the web for a pic if my description is unclear). For me, it’s a great compromise between an ordinary straight tweezer and bent tip ones. The SA is stainless, anti-magnetic, and anti-acid – apparently popular features. The metal has a really nice fine brush finish that’s grippier than a polished finish but not rough at all.
http://www.stanleysupplyservices.com/product-detail.aspx?pn=429-148
I like ’em already!
A tweezer with long angled needle tips (and no obvious code) has been my SMD handling device of choice for a while; Dragorn keeps nudging me to build a vacuum pickup and I really should.
A pack of MADE IN INDIA tweezers from the back of the drawer has one labeled
AAwith thick centered tips and another5 sawith thin centered tips, but nothing offset like yours.That one’s on the list… thanks!