In article ,
Asimov wrote:
" bravely wrote to "All" (28 Aug 04 04:07:54)
--- on the heady topic of " how do you clean your tip?"

Why don't they make tips out of aluminum alloy? I shaped a small Al tip
to remove 8 pin ics and it seems to work fine without corroding at all.

Looking at the price of soldering iron cleaners, I decided to roll my
own so I got some small cellulose sponges and a small disposable aluminum
bread pan at the local hardware store. A little bit of work with the
scissors, and I'd figured I'd saved about 5 bucks over the thing at
the electronics store.

But after the first day there was some strange reaction between the
solder refuse, the aluminum pan, and the damp sponge that ate holes
right through the aluminum in one night.

The aluminum pan got replaced with a square glass votive candle holder
(looks like a cubical highball glass).

Mark Zenier Washington State resident