Soldering Iron
Soldering Irons are used in Foil and Came construction methods of Stained Glass for melting a Solder alloy to connect the parts together.
Types of Soldering Irons
Over the years soldering irons have changed drastically from literal blocks of copper heated in fires to the modern ceramic heater running on electricity.
Gas
Gas Irons are still plenty oldschool and mostly a relic of the past for glass work. Though there are some places that they still can be useful and some studios still rely on them. Simply put a copper rod is held by a metal holder which is attached to a handle where a small gas flame is directed at rod.
Electric
There's a few soldering options when it comes to electric tools, ignoring the ones that aren't applicable leaves us with two main types.
Wire wound
Wire wound irons are made from a resistive wire wrapped around a tube that then heats up when electricity is applied. Most irons of this type are not temperature controlled thus requiring a Rheostat if some control is desired and take time to warm up.
Ceramic
With all the advances in material sciences special ceramics are made with electronics inside of them. These heaters are very small, powerful and heat quickly though they are very fragile. Dropping the iron on the ground can be enough to break the heating element. These irons are generally temperature controlled as electronics are required to power the heating element so it will not damage itself.
How to Pick a Proper Iron
Because of the hundreds of uses out there for soldering there's also tons of options. It can be overwhelming to find the right iron for you especially as there is just as many price points for these tools as there are tool options! Generally you will want something built for high mass soldering regardless of what option you pick otherwise the tool will not be capable of keeping up with the work you demand of it.
Here's a simple list of things to think about and how they will affect your decision.
- What method of construction will you use? Came or Foil will make a difference as there will be more mass to heat with came and generally came is wider thus the tip size you want will need to be larger. Larger tips require physically larger irons to keep up with the heat and to hold the tip.
- What type of solder will you use? Solder alloys will have varying temperature requirements thus if you need a higher temperature you need to make sure the iron can sustain it.
- Is price a factor? While ceramic irons are usually the go to option, they can easily be double the price of a cheap wire wound iron but you lose out on being able to precisely control the heat of the iron without buying a Rheostat.
- How easy can you find Tips? Tips are consumable and will need replacing over time. If you can't easily find a new one, the whole iron will need to be replaced.
Things to Avoid When Picking an Iron
- If the iron you are looking at is being sold for "Electronics Use" and includes many small tips, it's not going to work for glass.
- Battery operated or pocket irons will not be large enough nor strong enough to use.
- Comparing Wattage between iron types is not going be useful as the heater technology changes everything about the irons capabilities.
- It doesn't matter if the controls for the iron are in the handle or a separate base station.
Do's & Don'ts
DO -
- Clean iron tips with a damp (with water) sponge or brass wool.
- Keep any iron that is ON inside of an iron holder.
- Be aware of the tip is touching at all times.
- Use Tip tinner sparingly! When the tip is no longer holding solder in spots means it's time to clean it and possibly apply a tinner.
- Keep the tip tinned! This protects the tip and makes them last longer.
- Apply solder to new iron tips while they heat up. This protects the tip and prevents the coatings from going bad before you even use it!
DON'T -
- Use abrasives on the iron tip. This can easily destroy the coatings protecting it and allow the solder to eat away the tip.
- Dip or Rub flux/water onto the tip. Excess flux/water being forced into contact with the tip can destroy the tip, tip housing or the whole iron.
- Leave the iron ON overnight. Not only is this a fire hazard it causes unneeded wear on the iron as they should be in constant use when at temperature.
- Lay the iron on the table. This is an easy way to start a fire, get burnt or damage something. Always place the iron back in the stand while it's hot and not needed.
- Clean the iron tip and return it to the holder. The solder coating the tip is not just there to connect your parts, it is also protecting the iron tip. Always keep some solder on it.
- Turn on an Iron with a new tip and leave it set. While some iron tips come coated from the factory with solder not all do. Not applying solder while the iron heats up can cause the coatings to go bad and thus your tip won't hold solder anymore.