Garden Railway Forum

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2019 1:07 pm What do you lot use to clean the tips after use? Years ago, I made the mistake of using files which you shouldn't do as that removes the protective coating off the soldering tips so this time around I don't want to ruin my new ones!

I'm not sure I could still solder with the old style hot electric poker. my father was taught to use what was basically a large lump of copper with a handle that he put in the kitchen wood stove to make it hot. He had one big soldering iron and one very big soldering iron. never have worked out why a lump of copper is called a soldering 'iron'. I watched him plenty of times, but it was well beyond my skills......

The old way of cleaning a soldering iron tip was to wipe it on a damp sponge, which is that yellow thing in the soldering iron stand. Some years ago I changed to using what is basically a brass scouring pad. It keeps the tip clean as a whistle, scrapes off excess solder and doesn't affect the tip temperature, or the tip coating.

Mine is made in Japan and came from a local supplier. It looks like this, but I would think the equivalent is available in the UK from electronics suppliers.

https://www.jaycar.com.au/goot-solderin ... r/p/TS1510

Don't be tempted to use a cheap stainless steel scourer from the supermarket, it is hard enough to damage the iron coating on the copper soldering tip. The iron coating is there to stop the copper tip dissolving into the solder.


If you will be soldering whitemetal as well as electrical work, get a separate tip for the lowmelt solder. If the two solders mix, you can get brittle soldered joints.

Regards,
Graeme

GTB wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2019 1:37 pm

Mine is made in Japan and came from a local supplier. It looks like this, but I would think the equivalent is available in the UK from electronics suppliers.

https://www.jaycar.com.au/goot-solderin ... r/p/TS1510

Appears to be cheaper in Oz than UK!
www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_tr ... r&_sacat=0

There are loads similar to what Graeme mentioned on eBay for under £3 with postage.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Tom, some of those say "steel" rather than the brass which Graeme recommended, and some say 'sponge' without defining.

philipy wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2019 3:09 pm Appears to be cheaper in Oz than UK!
www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_tr ... r&_sacat=0

Our politicians are a bunch of thieves like all of their kind, but not on the scale of that opera buffa in Westminster.......

There's no import duties in most cases as we don't have any industry left to protect and the GST rate is 10%, not 20% like VAT.

Graeme

I have been for a time a professional modelmaker building 0 gauge models so I have some experience with white metal soldering.

White metal solder isn't great at creeping like normal solder does on brass so it can be a handful to work with especially those who are inexperienced.

When I first started to make kits I bought a antex temp controlled iron from Eileen's Emporium & whilst it melted the solder it wasnt great.

I used a variable temperature ersa soldering iron which for the bulk of work I set at 255 degrees this will solder most items but you have to be very careful with the work because it can still melt.

Treat white metal soldering like normal soldering firstly so if it is a large area you soldering you need more heat. Metal is a heat sink so the bigger the area the hotter it needs to be to keep the solder a liquid.

Another thing I did as a beginner was to try & solder absolutely everything & it doesnt work. Just use super glue or a epoxy adhesive like aryldite to fit smaller more delicate items.

I've done some demonstrations at exhibitions before & I tell everyone who is frightened or nervous about soldering to get a sheet of brass & cut it up & use it to practice before attempting a model.

Another factor with white metal is quality of the actual castings. Some are poor & made from re melting old castings that didnt turn out right. This can have an effect on the parts your soldering because this process destroys the purity of the white metal & it just melts when it sees a picture of a flame.

I wish you all the best of luck, once you master it it's not to hard but its learning how it works that can be tricky.

Thanks for that insight, Simon. Always handy to have plenty of perspectives and suggestions. Although I've done some white metal soldering reasonably successfully, it's handy to know that using epoxy for smaller items is a recommendation. Quite apart from anything else, they are tricky to hold while being soldered.

Rik