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I occasionally use a soldering gun when I need heat beyond the typical electronic soldering iron.? I have also used a resistance soldering unit.? Resistance soldering is MUCH better than a soldering gun because the heat is quickly and efficiently developed within the parts.? With a soldering gun, you still have to depend on heat transfer which can take a long time and end up with more of the part heated.? I think the role of a soldering gun for soldering mechanical parts is merely one step above a conventional soldering iron However, you can get soldering irons with HUGE tips that can get more heat into the part much faster than a soldering gun.? And for some things, such as soldering small brass parts on a brass model railroad engine, speed is important, or everything heats up and other parts start falling off.? Today, most use resistance soldering, and some might use solders that melt at different temperatures and assemble things in a sequence.? But I have seen assembly line photos of people in Japan in the 1960's building small brass model railroad engines that were soldering tiny parts with these giant soldering irons.? That is how they got a local area real hot real fast before the heat could significantly transfer everywhere else. Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer
On Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 01:31:05 PM PDT, Miket_NYC <mctaglieri@...> wrote:
"you might want to look into resistance soldering. It runs a current through the metal and the heat is very concentrated to just the point being soldered. . . . Not cheap by soldering standards" I'm wondering, could you use a soldering gun for this?? They essentially use the same method. There's a transformer inside the handle that turns the 110 v. current into low voltage, high amperage current that runs through the copper tip and heats it.? So you could connect two cables where the tip connects and attach their other ends to the work. That would run the high amperage current through the joint. The cables would have to be fairly heavy so they wouldn't get hot themselves, but I don't know how heavy. (Perhaps speaker cable would work here. It's heavy gauge supposedly for the best sound quality). I use a Weller soldering gun (the same one I've used since getting it for Christmas at age 12, so they're pretty durable!)? That's 100 Watts. I don't know the wattage you need for resistance soldering, but if a single soldering gun weren't enough, you could hook up several. Mike Taglieri? On Wed, Mar 20, 2024, 11:09 AM Aaron Woods <awoods550@...> wrote: If soldering is an option strengthwise, but the issue is heat, then you might want to look into resistance soldering. It runs a current through the metal and the heat is very concentrated to just the point being soldered. It is popular with model railroaders working with small delicate pieces. Not cheap by soldering standards but cheap compared to welders. If you look around there are also some DIY articles. |
