On 9/3/06, Dave King <KingDWS@shaw.ca> wrote:
> Just as a follow up if anyone is interested.
>
> I went and tried Vasile's idea of making a new tip for
> my soldering iron. I couldn't find any of the solid wire
> suggested (lightening rod stuff)

:)) You're living in the US, right ?
Don't worry, it's the country of choices indeed.


 and was walking out of
> the store when I noticed brass rods in the plumbing section.
> Perfect diameter and about 30cm (1 ft) long. I grabbed a
> couple which should be enough for about 5-6 new ends.
> I hammered the end flattish like a blade screwdriver.
> Slotted the end with a hacksaw then filed it smooth.
> Cut it and put it into the iron and turned it on.
>
> It took a few minutes longer than normal to heat up
> even cranked all the way up. I tinned it and dug out
> a board with some smt's to play with. I made the slot
> too big so I could only try it on some thick film
> resistors. I grabbed it with my tweezers put the iron
> over the part and within a half second it was off the
> board! Very quick. I'm going to remake the tip so the
> slot is sized for the smaller parts. Once I do that
> I will be able to see if it works as well for the
> normal smt stuff. If it works as slick for those then
> it might save a lot more parts for reuse.

I wish you a lot of fun playing with SMDs.

Vasile

P.S. Maybe you're interested to know a way of desoldering TQFP parts
(for reusing) without hot air ?
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