Machine pin headers make for easy chip sockets

Fresh out of 8-pin DIP sockets, I broke off a couple rows of female machine pin headers as a substitute – using the chip itself to align the pins for soldering. That was about a month ago, and I’ve continued using them ever since. Though it seemed a bit ‘kludgey’ at first, this process has proven a lot easier than trying to keep a variety of socket sizes at the ready. As always, your mileage may vary.