In message <3AD7DE4D.63AD1FF0@bellsouth.net>, Chris Cox writes > When I got out of the service in '65, my first job was with Western >Union in Boston. They assigned me to a bench to modify some old >(EVERYTHING in WU was old, furniture from 20's and 30's, ancient tube >equipment, etc.) tube device I forget the function of. I had almost no >soldering experience. They had these huge American Beauty soldering >irons with hot dog size barrels and pencil size tips. The wiring ranged >from 22 to 10 gauge stranded and conditions were VERY jammed and crowded >in the box. I had placed my iron in it's tip cradle and was looking in >the box and trying to hold a 10 gauge piece, with a mind of it's own, in >a very tight spot. Now the American Beauties were very old and had the >ancient heavy cloth covered cord plugged into a strip on the back of the >bench. The cord had slipped the iron back a little. While looking in the >box I reached for the iron and grabbed the barrel full grip, all fingers >and palm firmly wrapped. You didn't hold these irons like a pencil, you >held them like a baseball bat. It's a normal reaction to try and catch something if you drop it, after a few years you lose this reaction when you drop a soldering iron :-). -- Nigel. /--------------------------------------------------------------\ | Nigel Goodwin | Internet : nigelg@lpilsley.co.uk | | Lower Pilsley | Web Page : http://www.lpilsley.co.uk | | Chesterfield | Official site for Shin Ki and New Spirit | | England | Ju Jitsu | \--------------------------------------------------------------/ -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.