I wantched a youtube on the "$20 Amazon solder pot" and it looks like he had to fill the solder pot with almost a complete 1 lb(?) bar of solder, which seems to be about $30.
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So, I went looking a bit more and I found some google articles on building a small solder pot using a spare soldering iron (I know we all have those) and using a copper or brass cap with a copper bolt thru it. As a proof of concept, I built one. Cost for a new 25 watt Harbor Freight soldering iron and the brass cap and screw was about $9. The small cap obviously requires a much smaller amount of solder (than the 1 lb bar). I tried it on some extra wire and it seemed to work fine.
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I've wound toxoids before and used the scrape the wire and then blob on soldering iron tip before, but I never felt 100% that scrapping the wire was a bit of a pain.
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Time will tell if I actually use my small soldering pot or the scrap/blob method.
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Thanks for everyone's help.
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Roy de K2RMA
Roy Ashkenaz