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  • Author Author: jw0752
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Shop Tips - Solder Iron Wire

jw0752

I have been fighting with the wire that connects my solder iron to its station. It is always in the way. If I have meter leads or test clips on the circuit the solder iron wire drags across them and pulls them loose. It catches on parts and hardware around the build site and makes an already bad mess worse. While there have been some attempts to produce a wireless iron I have not been impressed with them. When it comes to soldering and desoldering nothing can replace the regular wired iron.

 

Borrowing from familiar dental clinic technology I decided that I would suspend the solder iron wire above the work area. In my case I did this with a spring ( actually a series of rubber bands ) and a string cut to just the right length. The string was attached to the ceiling directly above my work area and tied to the mid-section of the solder iron wire from the solder station base. Another alternative if you do not want to mess with the ceiling would be to install a boom from the wall or shelving behind the solder station. Here is a picture of the way the wire is held over the work area.

 

 

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The yellow line is the string. You can see how it holds the wire above the work area so that there is no interference with the circuit board. I may not have needed the Rubber bands but I did not want to create a situation where I needed to pull the solder iron and have a solidly attached string impede my movement. Here is a picture of the rubber bands and string attachment to the ceiling.

 

 

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In my case this has proven to be a very welcome relief from fighting with the solder iron wire. Here are a couple more pictures of the way the string keeps the wire from interfering with items on the work area.

 

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Thanks John

Parents

  • So, in my imaginings, John's soldering iron cord rises from his bench at a slant.  It is in a plane perpendicular to the front of his bench, going back as it rises.  John takes turns showing his grandkids his new soldering rig.  He asks them, having posed them normal to the plane of the cord: "How does the cord go in space?"  John, being a good sport, has the cord pulled tautish.  His attention drifts midway through the discussion when his grandkids again try to lecture him on the catenary curves,  This leaves him feeling guilty and confused.   I digress. . .

     

    When he invites Lovable Scamp I in the kid replies:  "Well, it seems to go about 57 inches back, while going 176 inches up."  They learn 'em to be precise in Wisconsin.  I spent a year there once. . .  I digress.

     

    Lovable Scamp II surprises and momentarily vexes John.  He (gender-neutral) replies: It seems to rise at an angle of about 67.261626317173938577526941042655* degrees, for 185 inches."

     

    Frisson momentarily bloomed in John's mind.  His right brain was telling him that linguists would tell him that the two responses were distinct, imiscible, but his left brain was telling him a mathematician could practically object to neither, and yet the question had a single answer.  Then his corpus collousium  told him that this left-right brain stuff was over-simplified and unverified.  And that maybe it was time to see how things were going in the kitchen. . .

     

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    *Any opinions on the Win10 scientific calculator?

Comment

  • So, in my imaginings, John's soldering iron cord rises from his bench at a slant.  It is in a plane perpendicular to the front of his bench, going back as it rises.  John takes turns showing his grandkids his new soldering rig.  He asks them, having posed them normal to the plane of the cord: "How does the cord go in space?"  John, being a good sport, has the cord pulled tautish.  His attention drifts midway through the discussion when his grandkids again try to lecture him on the catenary curves,  This leaves him feeling guilty and confused.   I digress. . .

     

    When he invites Lovable Scamp I in the kid replies:  "Well, it seems to go about 57 inches back, while going 176 inches up."  They learn 'em to be precise in Wisconsin.  I spent a year there once. . .  I digress.

     

    Lovable Scamp II surprises and momentarily vexes John.  He (gender-neutral) replies: It seems to rise at an angle of about 67.261626317173938577526941042655* degrees, for 185 inches."

     

    Frisson momentarily bloomed in John's mind.  His right brain was telling him that linguists would tell him that the two responses were distinct, imiscible, but his left brain was telling him a mathematician could practically object to neither, and yet the question had a single answer.  Then his corpus collousium  told him that this left-right brain stuff was over-simplified and unverified.  And that maybe it was time to see how things were going in the kitchen. . .

     

    ===========

     

    *Any opinions on the Win10 scientific calculator?

Children
  • in reply to D_Hersey

    Hi Don,

    I always enjoy your posts. You have to be the "Picasso" of posters on this forum. At first glance they don't make sense and then slowly all the subtleties are revealed. I have had no contact with Windows 10, or the Scientific Calc. App,  slow to react to new things. I will probably get it checked out sometime before Version 11 arrives. I use a Radio Shack Scientific Calculator that is beginning to wear out even though I push each key stroke with loving care. Thanks for your posts.

    John

    Things are better now in WI our governor is out of State trying to wreck the rest of the country.