This year I turn 50. I was taught how to solder when I was 10, so I know
how to do it, but I have some sort of nervous condition where I can't
hold my hands still for more than 3 seconds. If you know any thing about
golfing, it is like a permanent case of the yips.

All my life, this has been a frustration. Things weren't so bad when
everything was mounted on a big piece of metal and all that had to be
soldered was wires to lugs or tube mounts (what would be said then was
my soldering was sloppy), but when these little tiny boards came along
assembled by Japanese women with tiny hands, I was all done.

I can't even assemble a kit any more.

For a few years, I would bring small repair jobs to an old man I knew.
The first time he looked at me funny when I told him my problem, and
then he *got* funny when I said to him one day, "Could you please solder
this part from this to that for me?" He says to me, "You think that will
fix it? You know, I'm not going to fiddle with this thing all day if it
doesn't work." I asked him again to go ahead and do it and he was very
surprised when it began to work again.

So I never had any more trouble out of him. He was nice enough to do
what I asked him to do. But then he died. And I moved and now I am back
to trying to do it myself again with cold joints galore.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this pencil soldering with
clamps or something? I have tried to use several different types of
alligator clips, but cripes, it takes me 20 minutes to work out how to
hold three different things to make a 30 second solder. Solving the
clamping problem takes 10 times longer to solve than anything else.

I'm open to ideas.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this pencil soldering with
clamps or something? I have tried to use several different types of
alligator clips, but cripes, it takes me 20 minutes to work out how to
hold three different things to make a 30 second solder. Solving the
clamping problem takes 10 times longer to solve than anything else.

I'm open to ideas.

the final act of soldering (at least of a small part) should only take 3
seconds.

one second to heat, one second to apply solder, one second to flow. then
remove heat.


of course larger jobs like soldering a PL-259 to RG-8 will take longer and
require more heat.


i make frequent use of a Panavice for holding work. also 'helping hands'
mounted on a heavy oval of wood.

make sure you soldering pencil has some form of temperature control... the
heat needs to be about 650 degrees for a good joint (your experience may
very).

some pencils have changeable tips marked 6, 7, or 8 for hundreds of
degrees. i have long moved to a station with a dial on it for temp control.

you might consider adding a pistol grip the the iron... it may be easier for
you to hold steady in a fist.

"TimPerry" wrote in message
...

Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this pencil soldering with
clamps or something? I have tried to use several different types of
alligator clips, but cripes, it takes me 20 minutes to work out how to
hold three different things to make a 30 second solder. Solving the
clamping problem takes 10 times longer to solve than anything else.

I'm open to ideas.

the final act of soldering (at least of a small part) should only take 3
seconds.

one second to heat, one second to apply solder, one second to flow. then
remove heat.


of course larger jobs like soldering a PL-259 to RG-8 will take longer and
require more heat.


i make frequent use of a Panavice for holding work. also 'helping hands'
mounted on a heavy oval of wood.

make sure you soldering pencil has some form of temperature control... the
heat needs to be about 650 degrees for a good joint (your experience may
very).

some pencils have changeable tips marked 6, 7, or 8 for hundreds of
degrees. i have long moved to a station with a dial on it for temp
control.

you might consider adding a pistol grip the the iron... it may be easier
for
you to hold steady in a fist.



I agree.We've been going through a similar thing in a thread further down.
When Tim says 650 deg he means Farenheit. I only say this because there was
some confusion in the other thread. Be aware that temp controlled stations
that have a readout, are usually in deg C, so if you try turning it up to
650, you won't get there ! Also be aware that manufacturers have been moving
over to lead-free solder for the last couple of years to comply with new
European legislation that comes in 1st July. Joints with this stuff require
a hotter iron, and take about double the time required to make leaded
joints. A joint can't be made to look anything other than cold or bad, even
by an experienced hand solderer, so I'm sorry to say that things will only
get worse for your condition.

Arfa

You could rig something with a machinist's X-Y table and height transfer
stand that would let you position everything as you want, then drop and
raise the soldering iron -- all with mechanical assistance. A modified
arbor press might be better than the height transfer stand, since you
could use a lever to raise and lower the soldering iron.

Check out Enco http://www.use-enco.com for ideas. You can find the
same items used on ebay, though Enco's prices are very good.

Vey wrote:

Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this pencil soldering with
clamps or something? I have tried to use several different types of
alligator clips, but cripes, it takes me 20 minutes to work out how to
hold three different things to make a 30 second solder. Solving the
clamping problem takes 10 times longer to solve than anything else.

I'm open to ideas.

Arfa Daily wrote:
"TimPerry" wrote in message
...

Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this pencil soldering with
clamps or something? I have tried to use several different types of
alligator clips, but cripes, it takes me 20 minutes to work out how
to hold three different things to make a 30 second solder. Solving
the clamping problem takes 10 times longer to solve than anything
else.

I'm open to ideas.

the final act of soldering (at least of a small part) should only
take 3 seconds.

one second to heat, one second to apply solder, one second to flow.
then remove heat.


of course larger jobs like soldering a PL-259 to RG-8 will take
longer and require more heat.


i make frequent use of a Panavice for holding work. also 'helping
hands' mounted on a heavy oval of wood.

make sure you soldering pencil has some form of temperature
control... the heat needs to be about 650 degrees for a good joint
(your experience may very).

some pencils have changeable tips marked 6, 7, or 8 for hundreds of
degrees. i have long moved to a station with a dial on it for temp
control.

you might consider adding a pistol grip the the iron... it may be
easier for
you to hold steady in a fist.



I agree.We've been going through a similar thing in a thread further
down. When Tim says 650 deg he means Farenheit. I only say this
because there was some confusion in the other thread. Be aware that
temp controlled stations that have a readout, are usually in deg C,
so if you try turning it up to 650, you won't get there !

mine is marked in both scales.

on stations i have used with LED readouts you can see the temp fall when you
apply the tip to the work

Also be
aware that manufacturers have been moving over to lead-free solder
for the last couple of years to comply with new European legislation
that comes in 1st July. Joints with this stuff require a hotter iron,
and take about double the time required to make leaded joints. A
joint can't be made to look anything other than cold or bad, even by
an experienced hand solderer, so I'm sorry to say that things will
only get worse for your condition.

Arfa

indeed, i got a tube of solder onr time that i doubt anyone could make a
shiney joint with. i will stick with Ersin or Keister

Mike Berger wrote:
You could rig something with a machinist's X-Y table and height transfer
stand that would let you position everything as you want, then drop and
raise the soldering iron -- all with mechanical assistance.

WoW! That's a really good idea! When I think of "Drill Press" I don't
think miniature, but I guess a lot of other people do. There are tons of
them out there. Dremel (Bosch) makes one that the angle can be adjusted
in 15 degree increments, so if I had to bring the iron in at an angle, I
could.

So let's say I wanted to assemble a board from a kit. First I would
stuff the board and put tiny alligator clips on to sink what needed to
be sunk. Then I would put either a plastic or rubber, fairly thick foam
sheet over the parts, then maybe a piece of cardboard over that. Then I
would flip the sandwich and put it on the xy table.

I would need some sort of a depth stopper, so that I didn't jerk the
handle too far down and break things or maybe a dial down device rather
than pull down handle.

And wouldn't it be nice if I could make a solder feeder? Something like
the wire feeders they put on wire welders? Or I could just use the
helping hands to hold the solder.

Look, Ma! No hands!

TimPerry wrote:
make sure you soldering pencil has some form of temperature
control... the
heat needs to be about 650 degrees for a good joint (your experience may
very).

I really hadn't thought too much about temperature. I've always just
tried to tin the tip and if I could, then it was "hot enough." I've seen
"stations" for sale with rheostats and gauges , but since I don't do
this for a living, the price scared me away.

you might consider adding a pistol grip the the iron... it may be
easier for
you to hold steady in a fist.

I've tried pistol grips, but they don't help me much. In fact, when I
use my big old Weller, pulling the trigger makes things a little worse
since it tightens up the muscles in my arm. But with a soldering gun tip
that big, I can't miss anyway, so it is not a big deal.

"Vey" wrote in message
link.net...
This year I turn 50. I was taught how to solder when I was 10, so I know
how to do it, but I have some sort of nervous condition where I can't hold
my hands still for more than 3 seconds. If you know any thing about
golfing, it is like a permanent case of the yips.

All my life, this has been a frustration. Things weren't so bad when
everything was mounted on a big piece of metal and all that had to be
soldered was wires to lugs or tube mounts (what would be said then was my
soldering was sloppy), but when these little tiny boards came along
assembled by Japanese women with tiny hands, I was all done.

I can't even assemble a kit any more.

For a few years, I would bring small repair jobs to an old man I knew. The
first time he looked at me funny when I told him my problem, and then he
*got* funny when I said to him one day, "Could you please solder this part
from this to that for me?" He says to me, "You think that will fix it? You
know, I'm not going to fiddle with this thing all day if it doesn't work."
I asked him again to go ahead and do it and he was very surprised when it
began to work again.

So I never had any more trouble out of him. He was nice enough to do what
I asked him to do. But then he died. And I moved and now I am back to
trying to do it myself again with cold joints galore.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this pencil soldering with clamps
or something? I have tried to use several different types of alligator
clips, but cripes, it takes me 20 minutes to work out how to hold three
different things to make a 30 second solder. Solving the clamping problem
takes 10 times longer to solve than anything else.

I'm open to ideas.
At 50 myself, I am developing the same problem. Not to mention the eyesight
thing. In woodworking there is a saying, if you can't bring the wood to the
tool, bring the tool to the wood. In our case, I have had some sucess in
clamping the iron in place and bring the parts an solder to it. For me the
lighter weight of the solder is easier to handling and depending on the
parts,it sure is easier.
Also, I have seen at least one foot controled soldering iron. Kinda like an
impulse soldering iron.
Hope this helps.
Bob

Yes -- machining, unlike woodwork, assumes that the workpiece
stays in place and the tools move around. So there's lots of
off-the-shelf hardware to do just what you want if you replace
the mill/drill head with a soldering iron!

You can get something with a depth stop or use a dial gage for
precise height. A solder feeder should be easy. You could
do something like the wire welders use on a smaller scale.

Vey wrote:
Mike Berger wrote:
You could rig something with a machinist's X-Y table and height transfer
stand that would let you position everything as you want, then drop and
raise the soldering iron -- all with mechanical assistance.

WoW! That's a really good idea! When I think of "Drill Press" I don't
think miniature, but I guess a lot of other people do. There are tons of
them out there. Dremel (Bosch) makes one that the angle can be adjusted
in 15 degree increments, so if I had to bring the iron in at an angle, I
could.

So let's say I wanted to assemble a board from a kit. First I would
stuff the board and put tiny alligator clips on to sink what needed to
be sunk. Then I would put either a plastic or rubber, fairly thick foam
sheet over the parts, then maybe a piece of cardboard over that. Then I
would flip the sandwich and put it on the xy table.

I would need some sort of a depth stopper, so that I didn't jerk the
handle too far down and break things or maybe a dial down device rather
than pull down handle.

And wouldn't it be nice if I could make a solder feeder? Something like
the wire feeders they put on wire welders? Or I could just use the
helping hands to hold the solder.

Look, Ma! No hands!