Page 237 - 15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius

212 15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius

your pliers in your left hand and the snips in the Soldering is one of those jobs that you really
right. Grip the wire with the pliers close to where need three hands for. One hand to hold the
you want to start stripping the wire from, and then soldering iron, one to hold the solder, and one to
gently pinch around the wire with the snips, hold the thing you are soldering. Sometimes the
pulling sideways to strip the insulation away. thing you are soldering is big and heavy enough to
Sometimes you will pinch too hard and cut or stay put while you solder it; other times, you will
weaken the wire, and other times you will not need to hold it down. Heavy pliers are good for
pinch hard enough and the insulation will remain this, as are mini vices and “helping hand”–type
in tact. It’s all just a matter of practice. holders that use little clips to grip things.

You can also buy an “automatic” wire stripper The basic steps for soldering are:
that grips and removes insulation in one action. In
■ Wet the sponge in the soldering iron stand.
practice, these often only work well for one
■ Allow the iron to come up to temperature.
particular wire type, and sometimes just plain
don’t work. ■ Tin the tip of the iron by pressing solder
against it, until it melts and covers the tip.
Soldering ■ Wipe the tip on the wet sponge—this produces
a very satisfying sizzling sound, but also cleans
You do not have to spend a lot of money to get a
off the excess solder. You should now have a
decent soldering iron. Temperature-controlled
nice bright silver tip.
solder stations are better (Figure A-6), but a fixed-
■ Touch the iron to the place where you are
temperature mains electric iron is fine. Buy one
going to solder (in order to heat it), then after a
with a fine tip and make sure it’s the kind intended
short pause (a second or two) touch the solder
for use with electronics, not plumbing.
to the point where the tip of the iron meets the
Use narrow lead-free solder. Anyone can solder thing you are soldering. The solder should flow
things together and make them work; however,
like a liquid, neatly making a joint.
some people just have a talent for neat soldering.
■ Remove the solder and soldering iron, putting
Don’t worry if your results don’t look as neat as a
the iron back in its stand, and being very
machine-made printed circuit. They never will.
careful that nothing moves in the few seconds
that the solder takes to solidify. If something
does move, touch the iron to it again to re-flow
the solder; otherwise, you can get a bad
connection called a “dry joint.”
Above all, try not to heat sensitive (or
expensive) components any longer than necessary,
especially if they have short leads.
Practice soldering old bits of wire together or
solder wires to an old section of circuit board
before working on the real thing.

Figure A-6 A soldering iron and solder