Soldering Irons

[Steve A.]

I noticed that Aoyue sells a lot more than cheap soldering irons:

Amazon.com: aoyue: Industrial & Scientific

Chinese manufacturing is bringing down the prices of all sorts of products. I think that Hakko wants to keep their established price point which is maybe 20% less than Weller. I have a hunch that they could sell their 936 solder stations for $39 and still make a profit on them. (If it sounds like I have renounced my Hakko 936 solder station that is not true- I just want to save it for critical work that requires its accuracy.)

Steve Ahola

P.S. I have dealt with eBay a lot (usually Buy It Now's because the auctions would raise my blood pressure) but it was mainly for used musical equipment; there is not a lot that go wrong with a lap steel that can't be fixed- its just a plank of wood with strings and a pickup! Nowadays I usually deal with Amazon since they offer a better warranty than eBay; if the USPS says that they delivered a package but you didn't receive it, good luck trying to get anything from eBay or PayPal. On the other hand I've had Amazon reship two items that were either misdelivered or stolen. eBay/PayPal acts strictly as a middleman: only if they can get the seller to reimburse them will they honor their much-tauted guarantee which is not worth the price of the paper it isn't printed on.: )

[big_teee]

I've bought several things from businesses that sell on Ebay.
Usually if they sell on their own website too, it is cheaper than on their ebay store.
I found out about Remington wire through ebay.
Their wire is cheaper on their own website.
T

[Steve A.]

I've bought several things from businesses that sell on Ebay.
Usually if they sell on their own website too, it is cheaper than on their ebay store.

True enough but many times their own website doesn't do PayPal*** and I really hate to fill out the billing address, etc., and trust them with my credit card, etc. What really bugs me is that some sites will not give you the shipping charge (or even an estimate) until you fill out all of that information; most sites will compute the shipping charge based on your zip code without having to go through all of that BS.

But I do hate to patronize eBay- it just encourages them!

I like doing business on Amazon and I'm look into becoming an Amazon seller (I have a lot of musical equipment I really ought to sell but I don't want to deal with eBay or craigslist.)

Okay back to the topic. I got my big shipment of soldering equipment today from Amazon today. The bad news- the $12.62 heavy duty soldering iron stand (X0009KQ9A7) will not work with the W60P iron because the barrel and tip will touch the coiled spring. The good news- the W60P will plug into the WLC100 solder station and the iron holder on that will not act as a heat sink. So there will be no need to me to use a diode switch box as a half power mode. I was thinking about it and at the lower power settings the W60P will not reach the 700 or 800 degree setpoint of the tip so it will be "on" continuously but at a low enough temperature that it shouldn't cook the guts.
The SP40W iron that came with the WLC100 has a set screw to hold the tips in. I was never crazy about that arrangement- those screws tend to freeze up. (I would order a WP35 to use with the WLC100 but the 20% off sale at Amazon is over. )

Steve Ahola

*** that may explain why their prices are lower on their own website- no fees for eBay and PayPal.

[Steve Conner]

I just got a Weller WSD81 for my bench at work. Maybe not the sort of thing I'd have bought with my own money, but it works beautifully. My colleague has the same one, and if we want to get some really stubborn capacitor out of a multi-layer board, we can attack it with both irons at once for 160 watts of soldering power. If that won't do it, we have one of those stained glass type irons with a huge chisel tip.

The Weller TCP irons are classics, possibly the soldering equivalent of the Plexi as someone suggested above.

The Metcal is a space-age update on the same concept: the temperature is still regulated by the Curie point of the tip, but the tip is now heated by induction. The power supply is a 13.56MHz (?) RF generator, in a black finned casing not unlike the monolith from 2001, in serviceability as well as appearance. I think Metcal now sell cheaper irons that work with a normal heater, but their reputation was built on the RF one.

The only thing I know about Xytronic is that my last workplace had one and it stayed at the company longer than me.

[Tonestack]

Hexaon Electric has a wide variety of tools for anyone seeking the best in hand soldering equipment.

My 175W Hexacon P115 is a beast. It makes soldering guns look like toys. I am going to post a photo of the P115 alongside my Weller WP35 one more time for good measure. As one can clearly see, the P115 is over a foot long.

[ReWind]

I watched the Duncan pickup DVD again last night while looking for something unrelated. I noticed that Seymour has a WESD51 in his lab. I feel good about that.

[big_teee]

I watched the Duncan pickup DVD again last night while looking for something unrelated. I noticed that Seymour has a WESD51 in his lab. I feel good about that.

Is That going to make your pickups Sound Better???
T

[ReWind]

Yep.

Not because Seymour has one, but because it's a fast heating, cool handling, stable temperature, reliable iron. I can concentrate on other aspects of pickup building and not concern myself with soldering.

All I meant by that comment was that it was good to see the same iron I have living a successful role in daily use in the same industry I'm in. It looked like it was well used and still kicking ass. That's what I expect from a Weller. Good to see proof.

[big_teee]

Yep.

Not because Seymour has one, but because it's a fast heating, cool handling, stable temperature, reliable iron. I can concentrate on other aspects of pickup building and not concern myself with soldering.

All I meant by that comment was that it was good to see the same iron I have living a successful role in daily use in the same industry I'm in. It looked like it was well used and still kicking ass. That's what I expect from a Weller. Good to see proof.

Yes I was being Sarcastic! I'm not picking on you in particular though!
Seems like way too much emphasis on doing everything like it was done, 50, 60 years ago.
I figure Seymour, Leo, and Seth, could have made a good pickup with a blow torch, or Branding iron! lol
Seems like Lots of coat tail riding going on now a days!
Nuff about that!
Peace, Tone, & Volume!
Keep Rockin,
Terry

[big_teee]

To Agonize, a little further on the Soldering Iron Thread?
What is your favorite brand and mixture of Solder?
T

[Steve Conner]

I figure Seymour, Leo, and Seth, could have made a good pickup with a blow torch, or Branding iron! lol

Sshh, I think that's part of Possum's secret recipe. The keeper bars are machined from antique branding irons after 20 years of metallurgical research. The burnt cattle hairs add just the right amount of carbon to the iron.

I much prefer the old tin-lead solder. RoHS be damned.

[ReWind]

I like Kester 44 or Wonder Solder depending on the application. Kester cleans/flows better.

[big_teee]

I like Kester 44 or Wonder Solder depending on the application. Kester cleans/flows better.

I agree on the kester 44.
I have been using solder left over from 40+ years of Communications work.
I just started using the 44, and Wow.
It is nice pretty and it is clean when your done.
My old solder, always left a yucky rosin residue.
It was a pain to get it off, if you wanted it clean looking.
So Kudos on the Kester 44.
T

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

I much prefer the old tin-lead solder. RoHS be damned.

You don't have much choice on that side of the pond, do you?

[JoeM]

I picked up the Circuit Specialists 60w station. It's on sale until the end of May. (More on this later).

60watt Analog Style Soldering Station