im learning to work with pe. when you solder, do you use a iron with a small tip or do you like a micro torch? how do you apply flux. plz advise. thx.
I use a very small tipped iron at low (25) wattage. It doesn’t take much to heat pe. I add flux to the part prior to heat. Try not to hit the flux directly with the iron if you can. Remember, you can always reflux in the middle of the job if need be. Flux is cheap, don’t be afraid to use the heck out of it.
thx for the input…I should have done a search on the forum before posting as there are a lot of threads on the subject…but all the advice we can put up will help.
I use a butane torch with either an open flame tip or a regular iron tip screwed onto the end depending on what i’m doing… It heats up VERY quickly. I use the open flame on larger items like fenders and the metal tip for smaller more concentrated areas… Also a friend of mine Ted Herman (Tinkerer) got me to using liquid flux… That makes all the difference in the world. I got mine in the stain glass dept of Hobby Lobby. Brush it on and it seems to work much better than paste flux…
I myself have experimented with soldering PE, and have come to a tip I can add. After you add the flux, and before you apply the heat, add the solder on top of the flux. It will allow it to flow at just the right time, into just the right spots, before the flux loses it’s effectiveness. When I did this, it was ALOT more effective, with ALOT less cleanup involved.
whatkind of solder are you all using?
gary
I use a small non-electric soldering iron I purchased from Radio Shack. It runs on butane lighter fluid and was relatively inexpensive. The cap includes a cigarette lighter style ignitor. It works pretty good for such a little soldering iron.
I found one at Lowes that I like. It comes with three or four different shaped tips. Electricians use one that’s about as big as a pencil, and the heat’s just right for photo etch, but I can’t find one for sale anywhere. May have to call in a marker to get my hands on one.
gary
If you can get your hands on a set of “X-Acto Extra Hands” or a similar set-up, they’ll help you immensly with soldering, BTW…
Gary, I like 50/50 if you can find it.
Paul
That’s the one i got… I love it.
thanks
glt
Gotta get me one o’ those… Radio Shack closed up here, got a picture of one?
Any hardware store has some I’m pretty sure but I didn’t get mine at radio shack I think I got it at Home Depot. But now I need to get some liquid flux and figure out where my butane soldering iron went to.
Tankee, Dawg…