SpaceMouse j. c. puts heat where you need it , so you are not wating for heat transfer. I've been hearing about these for a couple of decades and I'm sure they are quite effective. I've just never seen a tip that would fit this application. I did see an American Beauty tweezer grip that might work, but it was a $250 add-on to a much much more expensive system. The systems I saw under $100 had 1/4 inch tips or larger. Certainly I saw nothing that would create a resistance current within the 1/16th" pad.
j. c. puts heat where you need it , so you are not wating for heat transfer.
I've been hearing about these for a couple of decades and I'm sure they are quite effective. I've just never seen a tip that would fit this application.
I did see an American Beauty tweezer grip that might work, but it was a $250 add-on to a much much more expensive system. The systems I saw under $100 had 1/4 inch tips or larger. Certainly I saw nothing that would create a resistance current within the 1/16th" pad.
well you didn't look closely then . resistance unit is my go to tool for most all soldering no time wasted for iron to heat up , there are a few exceptions like as electronic gear and general wireing chores. have built many brass locos with fine details closely spaced.
Chip, it’s good to have you back! Taught myself to solder a few years back, and learned along the way not just that flux is a must, but that it MUST be appropriate for the kind of solder you are using- the whole lead/lead-free thing hampered many jobs until I figured it out.
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
j. c.well you didn't look closely then
Instead of telling me it can be done, and I'm not looking close enough, how about explaining how you would use resistance soldering to solve my problem. You've got the picture. Feel free to ask questions.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
MidlandPacificTaught myself to solder a few years back, and learned along the way not just that flux is a must, but that it MUST be appropriate for the kind of solder you are using- the whole lead/lead-free thing hampered many jobs until I figured it out. Add Quote to your Post
I thought I taught myself several years back. Now after 8 years of sitting doing nothing, I jumped right in forgetting all my hard learned lessons. But you are right, I need to learn this skill at least to the level of proficiency.
You might consider getting a salammoniac block for tip cleaning. Rubbing the tip on the block will shine up the tip and it stays that way for a while.
The stuff is available from the normal on line places. Seems a bit expensive, but I've had the last block I bought for about 15 years - although I don't have use for the irons every day any more. I found the stuff invaluable for fine circuit board work
I have one of those, the one I bought was actually al ittle tin of it, with double sided tape on the bottom - I stick it to the tray area on the base of my soldering station.
The other thing - last thing I do when I turn the soldering iron off is melt a blob of solder on the tip and then carefully put it in the holder so the blob stays. When that freezes it forms an air tight seal around the tip until next time you heat it up and clean it off, revealing the nice shiny tip, ready to go. And the holder that came with my unit does not use the wet sponge thing, it has a brass or copper scrubber type thing - you can get them in the grocery store, next to the steel wool scouring pads (NEVER use one of those on a soldering iron), they are used to scour out copper pots (never use steel scouring pads on those, either). I find this does a better job of cleaning off the tip than the wet sponges ever did.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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