Meeting 2: Soldering Lessons - May 15th

[Matt Grommes]

UPDATED: DATE CHANGED!

I've scheduled Meeting 2 for Thursday May 8th15th. Same bat-time, same bat-place. The map is in the new Events box on the left side of the main page. If you can come, please RSVP in the Events box so I know how best to setup the room.

This meeting will be focused on soldering lessons. Some of our members have a lot of soldering experience so they'll be helping the rest of us with learning the basics and hopefully we'll be able to build a small real project. Any ideas for something small we can work on would be great.

Also, for Ray and others who said they'd help teach: can you post some pointers on starter soldering irons people might want to pick up before the meeting? If you don't have an iron, we can share but I'd encourage everybody to get their own iron before the meeting.

Be sure to spread word of the meeting around to anybody you know who wants to learn to solder. I think this is going to be a great meeting.

[Luke Nihlen]

New solderers should get their own inexpensive iron. A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. Don't get a solder gun. Get a solder pencil.
2. Don't spend more than $20 on your first iron.
3. Anything between 15 and 30 Watts is a good power range to do most work. I have two irons that I use regularly, a 15 W iron and a 45 W iron. The 15 W iron is for all my microelectronics work, and the 45W takes care of the heavy lifting.
4. You will probably mess up the tip of your iron and, although you can clean them up pretty good, buying an iron with a replaceable tip is handy.
5. You will need a place to put your iron while it is hot, some kind of mechanically stable stand. The little folded sheet tin stand that comes with some irons doesn't cut it. The next step up is a little sheet steel stand with a spring-looking holder. A worthwhile investment.
6. You will need something to clean your iron tip with. Some people like sponges, I prefer tip cleaners made out of metal, because they don't smell funny or cool your iron when you use them. They look like little metal sponges. Steel wool is bad because the little pieces of steel wool can get in to your project and short things out.
7. Buy solder. Avoid acid or lead-core solder. You want electronics solder, also known as rosin-core solder.
8. Some people like desoldering tools. I prefer desoldering wick. It's cheaper and works better (IMHO).

Some of the easiest soldering is soldering to PC boards. There's lots of kits you can buy where the board is prefabricated and you just solder the parts on to the board. There's also perfboard, which is just circuit board with a bunch of holes already punched in it, and you wire up your own circuit on it. The kits are a bit easier because they already have a schematic and all the components you need in one little package. So I say bring a kit, your iron, some solder and a desoldering tool of some kind and someone will help you solder it up.

I saw some fun looking kits at Electronic Parts Company on Rhode Island just north of Menaul. They'll also have irons and other supplies as needed. But any electronics parts store worth its salt will have everything you need. Good hunting!

[Ray Finch]

Very good advice, Luke. I agree completely.

I looked on Radio Shack's web site and made of list of things to buy to get into soldering. RS stuff is certainly not the absolute best but it will work well enough for learning and getting started. Electronic Parts Company on Rhode Island is also a good local source but they tend be a bit pricey.

I tried to select items that are good enough quality to work well but not overly priced. It is very easy to go overboard when buying soldering stuff and there are a lot of gimmicky items out there that either don't work all that well or you really just don't need.

The List:

High-Tech Rosin-Core Solder (1.5 Oz.)
Catalog #: 64-015
$3.29
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=64-015&a...


Soldering Iron Holder and Cleaner
Catalog #: 64-2078
$7.99
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062740&cp


15-Watt Soldering Iron with Grounded Tip
Catalog #: 64-2051
$8.99
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062728&c...


Desoldering Braid
Catalog #: 64-2090
$3.99
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=64-2090&...


Multipurpose PC Board with 417 Holes
Catalog #: 276-150
$1.99
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102845&cp

This is just to practice on for the meeting.


Kronus™ 4.5" Mini Diagonal Cutters
Catalog #: 64-2951
$5.99
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2036323&cp


Total cost: Just over $30.00


Optional stuff:

Kronus™ 4.5" Mini Long-Nose Pliers
Catalog #: 64-2953
$5.99
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062797&cp

Small needle nose pliers are very handy when building electric projects but just for getting started you can get along with out them.


Kronus™ Adjustable Wire Stripper
Catalog #: 64-2979
$5.99
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062784&c...

I put this in the optional category because although a wire stripping tool is very useful, with some practice you can use small wire cutters and get the same result. Also there are at least a dozen or more different types of wire stripping tools. Most of them are too bulky or too much trouble to use, but some people swear by them.


Hobby Vice
This is a small plastic vice that is good for holding PC boards, connectors or other things still while soldering. I have three of these I will bring so people can use them. I think I bought my hobby vice at Hobby Lobby or Michael’s or one of the hobby stores for about $5.00. Being plastic and all, it looks like a toy but it is very useful for small electronic work.


Squirt bottle
This is handy for wetting the sponge in the soldering iron holder mentioned above. You can always just wet the sponge at the sink but it is handy to have a squirt bottle near by.


I will bring some items to practice on and a few other things. Anyone who needs just to lean how to solder or if you're not sure if you're doing right, I'll be happy to help.


Also if a few people could bring some of the 50 foot outdoor extension cords (these are the three prong ones that are usually orange) and some plug strips, that would be handy so we can get everyone plugged in.


See you all at the meeting!

[Ray Finch]

One more thing:

When you get your new soldering iron, don't just plug it in and start using it. There is a tinning process that needs to be done on a new soldering iron tip before it is used for the first time. If you don't do this the tip won't last very long and you may have trouble using the iron.

I'll be going over the tinning process at the meeting. Also the solding iron will most likely have instructions with it for tinning the tip for the first time. There is a you tube video that shows the basics if you want to get started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBiUjfUxXjU

See you at the meeting!

[Ray Finch]

Here is another video. This one shows the correct way to solder parts to PC boards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_NU2ruzyc4&feature=related

Unfortunately there are a number of videos on Youtube that just have wrong information on soldering, but this one is pretty good.

[Pharaoh]

Perhaps we can come up with some simple circuits that we can have people Build while learning to solder. Nothing too crazy, maybe LED flashlights, or something. I dunno. Does anyone have any projects they'd like to work on while learning to solder?? Doesn't all have to be anything special, just anything you might want to work on. I'll try bringing some old electronics junk to play on, and perhaps if I can think up something to build....

I actually like soldering with a sponge to clean the tip of my iron. I've never had any trouble with "cooling" it on the sponge, it's always stayed nice n hot.

I won't say I don't have any bad soldering habits. so it might be a good idea for people to bring a flatened cardboard box or something that you can use to protect the table there at Matts work. I hate for us to mess something up by dropping an iron or hot solder accidentally.

Eric

[Matt Grommes]

The Make: store also sells a kit that I have that includes a bunch of basic tools. They've all performed pretty well for me in my limited experience.

Make: it Electronic Makers Toolkit - $99

Features
* Soldering Iron
* PCB Vise Panavise "Jr"
* Small (7.8") DeSoldering Pump
* Soldering Stand with sponge
* 0.5lb 60/40 Solder
* Desoldering Braid
* Wire Cutters/Stripper
* Shear Cutters
* 7-Function 2000-Count Multimeter

[Pharaoh]

Sadly, due to the date change, I'm not going to be able to make this meeting. though I have two soldering irons I can lend out if need be. I'll see if I can change things around but likely I'l be stuck and won't make the meeting.