Gerrit points out this simple yet quite helpful tool he made for keeping squirrelly surface mount parts in place for soldering – This simple tool will change your life. I was lucky to learn how to solder surface mount from a master. He had crafted a tool very similar to this for himself and used […]
In response to my Your soldering tips post, “Gizmo” at CircuitGizmos Labs sent this little write-up on creating your own solder dispensing tube using the little tube containers found at hobby and craft stores. – Gareth It is very easy to make a small solder dispenser. This is nice way to keep solder in your […]
Well, we’ve completed our first week of our MAKEcation programming, “Teach Your Family to Solder.” We hope we’ve inspired you to take up the firesticks, grab some noxious metal on a spool, and start dripping beads of molten alloy all over sensitive electronic components. Good, clean fun for the whole family! Win awesome booty! If […]
I don’t know how much work Miltron is going to get done in his shop, now that he’s built and installed this nifty little game system on his bench. It’s built using a NoaC (NES on a Chip) and a cannibalized PSOne LCD screen. Yet another use for The Maker’s Notebook — as a game […]
My first soldering iron was the kind that our camp counselor, Dave Hrynkiw, recommends we never use. You know the kind, it comes in a $10 kit and barely works. The reality is, a lot of people find one on these irons in the bottom of their toolbox and start their soldering careers with it. […]
In the twice-monthly Make: Online Toolbox, we focus mainly on tools that fly under the radar of more conventional tool coverage: in-depth tool-making projects, strange or specialty tools unique to a trade or craft that can be useful elsewhere, tools and techniques you may not know about, but once you do, and incorporate them into […]
We thought it’d be fun to poll Make: Online readers to collect some of YOUR top soldering tips. Please share your pearls of wisdom in the comments for those who may be new to the alchemical art of turning lead into electronics. Here’s one tip that’s a perfect example of a “why didn’t I think […]
