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Thread: Soldering tweezers gone bendy!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
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    Default Soldering tweezers gone bendy!

    Hi everyone,

    I seem to go through steel soldering tweezers like nobody's business! I use them for placing pallions of solder and occasionally for coaxing molten solder into place. The ends have gone all bendy, I suppose as a result of being heated. Can anyone recommend a different type of tweezer that will stand up to being heated?

    Best wishes,
    Nina

    www.ninagale.weebly.com

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    I really like Cookson's titanium ones.

    You can re-harden the steel ones by heating them up and dunking them in water - NOT in the pickle though!

  3. #3
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    Nov 2010
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    Thanks, Joe. I think I might treat myself to some titanium ones.

    Nina

  4. #4
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    Jun 2010
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    I like the way the heat isn't conducted so well in the titanium so they don't need those annoying insulating pads that feel so awkward to me on the steel ones. Also you can file the ends quite sharp without them melting in the heat of the flame. And you can use them in the pickle-pot... they're brilliant!

  5. #5
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    Dec 2009
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe View Post
    I like the way the heat isn't conducted so well in the titanium so they don't need those annoying insulating pads that feel so awkward to me on the steel ones. Also you can file the ends quite sharp without them melting in the heat of the flame. And you can use them in the pickle-pot... they're brilliant!
    Ha, Joe was on the night shift, I see. That said, the short version(130mm) works well, but the longer one(160mm) tends to get crossed unexpectedly when holding small objects.
    Long thin tweezers really need a spike inside one arm and a hole in the other to stabilise them and prevent this. Posh tweezers have this, but then the spike emerging from the hole sticks into your finger. It a loose/loose situation. Dennis.

  6. #6
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    Feb 2011
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    I was watching some titanium tweezers on ebay that were a £5. Is all titanium the same or is this one of the times where you get what you pay for?

  7. #7
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    Jun 2010
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    I've not seen a pair I thought were unsuitable and those on ebay look fine - but they're 160mm; I'd buy them at that price. Tweezers for soldering are a bit rough and ready - you'll want something better made for handling (watch parts, gems etc) and probably won't find anything other than steel in that sort of quality.

    Don't buy coloured titanium tweezers - they are on the whole just plated steel.

  8. #8
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    Feb 2011
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    I saw the lurid coloured ones!

    I have those wooden handled steel ones that I use for soldering. They belonged to my step dad as did a lot of my metal working tools (he built steam engines!) so I like to use those. it's sentimentality really.

  9. #9
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    I presume you are talking about self closing insulated tweezers,Liz. The good thing about those is that the broad part will balance on the edge of a block while grasping something vertical for soldering, for instace an ear post. Dennis.

  10. #10
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    Feb 2011
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    Hi Dennis,

    yes, those are they! until I actually started soldering I had no idea what use they were. I'm still discovering little bits and bobs of his stuff and their uses.

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