Dennis
11-03-2014, 09:24 AM
Here are five trusty tricks you might like. Why not add some of your own?
Tea Light Delights
Tea lights come in large packs, so if you have some to spare or can scrounge them from family or friends, they make smart waxy disks for lubricating saw blades, and also heavy wire when drawing it down. All you do is to pull out the wick and remove the foil cover. They can even be hung up somewhere out of the way.
Restoring Soldering Blocks.
When your soldering blocks get rough and untidy, you will want to restore them. Traditionally this is done by rubbing two together, a dusty dirty business best done out of doors. But once you are outside, you might just as well use a dry paving stone instead, which is much quicker. It leaves behind some dust and graffiti, but that will soon wash away with rain. There is no lack of that at present.
Make Up Brush.
Magnifying loupes get dusty in use, or display greasy marks. If the lenses are made of plastic they will need careful treatment to save them from becoming scratched and opaque. My answer is a large, soft make up brush, either used dry or with water and a drop of detergent. They are then rinsed and shaken dry or only dabbed lightly, never rubbed.
Travel iron.
Most of us have a small travel iron, put away and not earning its keep. They are good for transferring images from film to metal for etching, and also clamped upside down in a vice as a hot plate for Keum-Boo. You can leave yours on a favourite setting, as it won’t be needed for the weekly chore.
Investment Soldering.
When parts become really tricky to solder because they won’t stay together, investment soldering might spring to mind. This is not an attractive option, because to start with you have to buy more than twenty kilos of the stuff. In many cases a squidge of Technofux, a cool-paste which comes in a tube, will hold small components together perfectly well. It does not change much when heated: an instant remedy.
Dennis.
Tea Light Delights
Tea lights come in large packs, so if you have some to spare or can scrounge them from family or friends, they make smart waxy disks for lubricating saw blades, and also heavy wire when drawing it down. All you do is to pull out the wick and remove the foil cover. They can even be hung up somewhere out of the way.
Restoring Soldering Blocks.
When your soldering blocks get rough and untidy, you will want to restore them. Traditionally this is done by rubbing two together, a dusty dirty business best done out of doors. But once you are outside, you might just as well use a dry paving stone instead, which is much quicker. It leaves behind some dust and graffiti, but that will soon wash away with rain. There is no lack of that at present.
Make Up Brush.
Magnifying loupes get dusty in use, or display greasy marks. If the lenses are made of plastic they will need careful treatment to save them from becoming scratched and opaque. My answer is a large, soft make up brush, either used dry or with water and a drop of detergent. They are then rinsed and shaken dry or only dabbed lightly, never rubbed.
Travel iron.
Most of us have a small travel iron, put away and not earning its keep. They are good for transferring images from film to metal for etching, and also clamped upside down in a vice as a hot plate for Keum-Boo. You can leave yours on a favourite setting, as it won’t be needed for the weekly chore.
Investment Soldering.
When parts become really tricky to solder because they won’t stay together, investment soldering might spring to mind. This is not an attractive option, because to start with you have to buy more than twenty kilos of the stuff. In many cases a squidge of Technofux, a cool-paste which comes in a tube, will hold small components together perfectly well. It does not change much when heated: an instant remedy.
Dennis.