need some help and advice on glove?

Hi PaoGe Ge

You might check out the type of gloves that people who work with knives use to prevent cuts. They would provide protection against bumping the solder iron for a short period of time. I am only guessing that this will help as you did not explain the problem you are having with the solder iron. Another technique that may work is to mount the soldering iron in a fixed position pointing towards you then move the work and the solder to the tip of the iron. Here is a picture of a chain mail glove.

Here is a picture of the alternate soldering technique I mentioned:

Give me more information on your specific problem and perhaps I can think of something else.

John

Hello John

Thanks for your reply and your loaded good information. I appreciate your help. I will look for those gloves and give some of those tips a try. I never thought of any of those strategies before. My disability is weak nerves and muscular dystrophy. My problem is that my hand get shaky and my finger is not really strong to hold on to small things but I am willing to give it a try with some different technique.

Thank you very much. You are so awesome!!!!!!!

Hi PaoGe,

As well as the excellent advice from John, you may also wish to check out a manufacturer called Ansell (Australian but they have distributors globally) who make heat-resistant gloves. I don't know how practical they are to wear, but they may have advice.

Also there are some soldering irons with a very short hot end, although they are a bit pricey (about the lowest cost one that I know of with a fairly short hot end is this Metcal PS-900this Metcal PS-900 ). Alternatively maybe it is possible to adapt the handle of an existing iron, to try to prevent the hand slipping for example (e.g. some sort of lip glued onto the handle).

I just ordered a silicone glove (~$4) which is sold as an oven mitt. They are excellent at insulating from heat and I have seen a review where it survived an open flame. I don't think they are good for dexterity, but they may work for you. I did not buy it for this - I am going to test it at rubbing cat fur out of carpet....

Are you sure the cat will wear it?

Ohhhh, Static..... ZAP.

I can thoroughly recommend a Metcal soldering station, they are just awesome to use, whether it will help with your disability is something you'll need to determine yourself. I think they are all pretty short from grip to tip, I just measured the hand piece on my MX-5000 station and it's 33mm from grip to tip which makes it a lot easier to keep steady because there is less distance between your hand and the board. It also has the added advantage of reducing the chances of accidentally grabbing the hot bit! One thing you should note if you go down that route is that Metcal soldering stations are purchased without tips, you have to buy those separately so factor in the cost of the tip(s) along with the station that shabaz linked to. As well as that one, also consider the MFR range as they do dual output ones which will allow you to also have a pair of tweezers.

Best Regards,

Rachael

Thanks for the information I will look at this one and see if it fits my needs.

I do not have MD, but I do have similar issues.  I use a lot  of small vises - love Panavise. and  'helping hands' - alligator clips on flexible arms. Also magnifying lamps. In the workshop where I work there are friends with better hands and eyes

so I get them to help with any SMD work. I have the knowledge, but not so much the hands & eyes. There are some more expensive PCB holders with a firm foam clamp that allow you to clamp components into the pcb while you just work on the soldering

Hi PaoGe Ge,

clumsy gloves might make your problems greater. However, the soldering iron in a vice looks like a good start. Add a couple of blocks (books, bricks, wood etc) so that your arm does not rely on muscular control for support, or perhaps slide your arms across the tabletop, that might help a bit as well. If you have good control over your torso, it might also help to brace your arms against your waist and move your torso to slide your hands along the tabletop. With the soldering iron stationary in a vice and your hands resting on a tabletop, you might have enough control.

Also, have you considered solder paste and an heat gun? You might be able to get some gadget made to help with squeezing the syringe, and the heat gun does not need fine control.

All the best

Alan

Australia