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.
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.
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.
Thanks John
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