Wire and Solder spool holder

[GreyWoolfe]

I just looked it up and you are right!  It is for plumbing.  I have been using it for electronics soldering since my ITT Technical Institute days in the late "90s.  It works well and cleans up easily with alcohol.  Never had any corrosion damage using it even after a couple of years. 

Tom, NW0LF

[george graves]

A guy I know on another forum swears that flux eats copper multistrand wire so that you can actually see it, and that you should never solder two wires together (he's installs car stereos for a living, so......)

He says he pulls apart old stereo installs and sees the wires all eaten up.  I've always suspected that it was plumber's solder/flux.

[creyc]

I can second that about the Orange crush, super aggressive flux.  In my opinion overkill for fine electrical work.  I would stick to the plumbing fixtures with that stuff IMO.

Otherwise a very functional looking homeade setup there, GreyWoolfe!

[GreyWoolfe]

Creyc, thanks for the kind words.  My next iteration is to make it 2 tiered to hold a spool of larger diameter solder.  Will post pics when done.  George, I have used Orange Crush since the late 1990's.  I have used it for PCB soldering and wire soldering, installing stereo and ham radio gear in my vehicles.  I have never had any long term issues with the wires in the car falling apart and disintegrating.  I solder wires together and solder on crimp connectors  I am sure that that is the case with acid based flux.  Orange Crush has no zinc chloride or ammonium chloride.  It is water soluble, environmentally safe and lease no corrosive residue.  I also don't gob it on, hence the hypo.  Just a touch on a solder pad or a little spread on a western union splice for wires and when finished, a cleanup with alcohol.  YMMV.

Tom, NW0LF

[JohnnyGringo]

I usually just put it in a draw with the draw open a jar.

I'm having trouble parsing this statement. Can you please elucidate?

[creyc]

I usually just put it in a draw with the draw open a jar.

I'm having trouble parsing this statement. Can you please elucidate?

Could "draw" mean drawer here?  And "a jar" usually means 'open a small amount' with respect to doors, lids, drawers and the like.  Therefore:

I usually just put it (solder) in a drawer with the drawer open a small amount.

[JohnnyGringo]

For Pete's Sake! English already sucks, no need to make it even worsted.

[John Coloccia]

All your solder are belong to us.

[GreyWoolfe]

This 2 tier system cost me about $7 to make.  I used 3/4" flat aluminium stock 1/8" thick.  I also bought 2-1/4" by 4" carriage bolts and 2 nuts per bolt to lock them down just so they would both match.  The piece of 2x4 came out of the garage.  It looks better than the 3 pieces of 2x2 glued together.  The guides are made from copper wire.  Again, not elegant, but far cheaper and it is more fun to make it than buying it.  It also goes with the theme of the home made wire caddy and work bench.

Tom, NW0LF

[ben_r_]

All your solder are belong to us.

Bah ha ha ha I bet most around here have no idea what youre referencing!


....But IIIIIIII Dooooooo!

[OP]

I know this is an old post, but had to post this deluxe solder reel: http://www.jbctools.com/cataleg.php?pro=149&id=9#BE-SA

[miguelvp]

All your solder are belong to us.

Bah ha ha ha I bet most around here have no idea what youre referencing!


....But IIIIIIII Dooooooo!

Come one, this is older than dirt. It's way before chinglish!

Love the website they did a while back by followers, didn't look at it in a while to see if they had new pictures.

Edit: had a site but they don't have pictures anymore, just google images "all your base are belong to us"

[Neganur]

I used to have a nice old 3m wide dedicated desk for solder and cabling work in my old lab. Since it was old,  I didn't mind to put screws in it.
I also had a lot of reels with Dätwyler cables and all kinds of solder tin and the solution I came up with was to attach a long wooden pole to the rear part of the desk with a couple "screw in eye"-screws. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures anymore so pardon the crude MS Paint job:

[DomesticHacks]

I created some extensions for my shelf system you can print out on a 3D printer:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:101761

[ben_r_]

^^^^^ Pretty cool!

[David_AVD]

On our workbenches, we use toilet roll holders (from Bunnings) for solder rolls.  You can fit two 500g rolls and they attach to the underside of the shelf above the bench.

[nanofrog]

On our workbenches, we use toilet roll holders (from Bunnings) for solder rolls.  You can fit two 500g rolls and they attach to the underside of the shelf above the bench.

Simple and inexpensive. I like it. 

[Neganur]

On our workbenches, we use toilet roll holders (from Bunnings) for solder rolls.  You can fit two 500g rolls and they attach to the underside of the shelf above the bench.

Hah $6.00, almost less than I paid for my wooden pole back then brilliant!

[rdl]

My bench is in a closet that has those wire type shelves. I use a plain wooden dowel rod about 1" x 36", I slide the spools of wire onto the dowel and hang it below the shelf from the support brackets. I bought the wooden dowel at Walmart. I think I paid $1.59 (plus tax of course).

[SeanB]

I use old tubes that contained vitamin tablets, and you can also use the tubes that Gaviscon comes in. Simple to take the roll, wind a length around a short 5mm rod clamped in the cordless drill and used to wind a roll that fits inside. Poke a hole in the lid and feed through. Makes a portable and easy to use holder. I have quite a few around, so that you can always get one close at hand.

[SLJ]

The shelf supports are made from 3/8 inch threaded rod.  You can adjust the height of each shelf just by moving the nuts holding each shelf up or down.  I slid 3/8 diameter clear PVC over the rods to give them a "high tech" look.

I built a monitor stand on the other side of the station the same way.

The solder spool holder is also made using 3/8 threaded rod covered in PVC.  Nut in the middle to keep spools apart and lock nuts on the ends.  It snaps in and is held by two one and a half inch hooks.

Where's that shiny new Weller WX station!?

I do like that setup, especially the large scope front and center.  Do you happen to recall which model that is?

Sorry, just saw your reply.

Here's the WX and tools in its proper place.

I just set the tool I'm using at the time on the work surface in front of the WX control head.

The Amscope microscope is the 3.5X-90X stereo zoom with the Trinocular head with the USB camera.