Have you grabbed the wrong end of a soldering iron?

[XOIIO]

Alright, so this is something I am guessing has happened to everyone, but hey, maybe a couple people have gotten through life so far without ever grabbing the hot end of a soldering iron.

I know it's happened to me three times so far, possibly a couple more that I can't remember, but it always leaves a familiar feeling blister that is sure to form. Last time for me was a few months ago when I was fixing my a cheap laminator I got, I was distracted, listening to music, multitasking, and grabbed the hot end, it was not fun, and I couldn't believe I did it, it seems like such a rookie mistake.

At least I got it on video since I was recording the process, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) my channel isn't popular so I not many people laughed at my noobery.

So, when was the last time you burned your hand with a soldering iron? What were the circumstances?

Another fun (but much rarer I think) situation is when a ball of hot solder flings off or drops leaving a round indent in your skin for a while. That's only ever happened to me once.

[TheBorg]

Hey, it's better than putting hot glue on your thumb "just to see what would happen". And it wasn't the low temp melting stuff either... I am less of an idiot (but still an idiot! ) after that...

[XOIIO]

Hey, it's better than putting hot glue on your thumb "just to see what would happen". And it wasn't the low temp melting stuff either... I am less of an idiot (but still an idiot! ) after that...

Oh wow lol, that's certainly something.

I get plenty of hot glue burns (well, not burns but just a fair bit of pain) using high temp hot glue, always from using my fingers to adjust the glue, scrape it away from where I don't want it or trimming edges, so it's all self injury, but yet I still do it. I do make sure it cools a bit though.

[houdini]

I have grabbed the wrong end of the iron when i had a plug in one.  something pulled on the cord or the table shifted and pulled it and somehow the iron turned sideways.  It was just one a little wire stand so i reached over and grabbed it and it hurt a lot.  Also i have done the same thing with hot glue when it runs off the side of what i am gluing or something and i try to wipe it off with my finger.

[TheBorg]

Hey, it's better than putting hot glue on your thumb "just to see what would happen". And it wasn't the low temp melting stuff either... I am less of an idiot (but still an idiot! ) after that...

Oh wow lol, that's certainly something.

I get plenty of hot glue burns (well, not burns but just a fair bit of pain) using high temp hot glue, always from using my fingers to adjust the glue, scrape it away from where I don't want it or trimming edges, so it's all self injury, but yet I still do it. I do make sure it cools a bit though.

Yeah... I think it was freshman year in high school. Needless to say I've respected the hot glue gun ever since.
As for grabbing a soldering iron, I think the worst I've done is held the iron and tried to do something else (switch playlists or something) and ended up burning myself or some nearby plastic. Lessons learned
I did burn myself a lot more with the fire-starter iron and wire stand, as houdini says. It's certainly easier to do that...

[Rerouter]

I have had the tip unscrew and land on my arm, gas tips actually degrade to a point where they snapped off and land on my chest, and other people flick abnormally large bits off solder on my various body, and carelessly swiped it across bits of my hands while soldering things (and burnt my self stupid amounts with a gas iron in my first 6 months of using one))

but through all of this i have never actually grabbed the hot end, i think having a enclosed stand style iron for my first probably helped a large amount with this. if your in a quarter of a million dollar bus and the soldering iron is in mid flight to the floor, i let it fall, its less painful to replace carpet than it is to replace skin,

[cybermaus]

You guys need to use a stand.
Not just to avoid grabbing the wrong end, but also to avoid accidents where the iron shifts and scars stuff and wires.

Not that I do not know the feeling of hot irons, but most of my burns were the shape of resistors or leads that I felt I needed to hold on to while the solder solidified. 3rd hands are so difficult to work with sometimes.



PS: does not even need to be an expensive stand: An old glass jar is already better then letting your iron float all over and touch stuff.

[rexxar]

Yes, but not since I got a proper soldering iron with a stand. (I stole my brother's wood burning iron when I was a kid. Dear god was that some awful soldering)

Another fun (but much rarer I think) situation is when a ball of hot solder flings off or drops leaving a round indent in your skin for a while. That's only ever happened to me once.

My favorite is when you slip and jab the hot tip of the iron into your finger. Twice. On different hands 

Hey, it's better than putting hot glue on your thumb "just to see what would happen". And it wasn't the low temp melting stuff either... I am less of an idiot (but still an idiot! ) after that...

Oh, I remember doing that as a kid. My thinking was "Oh, I can touch it once it's sat for a minute, I wonder if I can put it on my fingers..."

[Kjelt]

I was lucky till 2006 in my company I grabbed a small Weller 80W SMT pencil on a WD81 with a very minute grip (the old one) and while pushing the iron against the pcb area i slipped my hand through over the iron burning two fingers. Never used those wellers again and they have been replaced since, I wonder why  .
The Wellers I have at home are fine  BTW never an incident.

[XOIIO]

You guys need to use a stand.
Not just to avoid grabbing the wrong end, but also to avoid accidents where the iron shifts and scars stuff and wires.

Not that I do not know the feeling of hot irons, but most of my burns were the shape of resistors or leads that I felt I needed to hold on to while the solder solidified. 3rd hands are so difficult to work with sometimes.



PS: does not even need to be an expensive stand: A while back I was fixing something at a friends house using his stand-less iron, and the first think I did was empty an old glass jar of the nails he was keeping in it, and use that as a stand. Very effective

Yeah, my earlier burns were without a stand, and just a radio shack plug right in iron. I didn't get an adjustable iron until a year or so ago, man was it a nice change going from that to a second hand hakko 936. The most recent burn was just epic failure though.

I know what you mean about helping hands though, maybe it was because I only got radio shack ones but you have to struggle to get them just right, and eventually the stupid little clamps get loose and fall off, and you can't solder them in place, and they never came with three hands, only two :/

Here is that video if you are interested, skip to 35:40 or so.
(not sure how to embed here)

edit: ah, it embeds for you.

[Rerouter]

with the helping hands buy new alligator clips (jaycar has ones with little black nubs on the compression point, compress the crimp so that it fits losely with the screw wound all the way out, secure it somehow so the wire loop is pointing down and flood it with solder, now you have a crimp that will take years to fail,

[XOIIO]

with the helping hands buy new alligator clips (jaycar has ones with little black nubs on the compression point, compress the crimp so that it fits losely with the screw wound all the way out, secure it somehow so the wire loop is pointing down and flood it with solder, now you have a crimp that will take years to fail,

Neat. I was thinking of making my own like this though, I just need to source a nice block of aluminum and a tapping bit, then I'll just use my drill press for the holes, I don't have access to a mill, and make one where I can have, oh heck, 6 hands if I want.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Third-Hand-A-multi-use-helping-hand-for-electro/

[cybermaus]

... and they never came with three hands, only two :/

The entire thing is called a "3rd hand" because first two are attached to your body.

[PA4TIM]

I never used or missed a third hand. I use my thumb and second finger as one "clamp" and middelfinger and 4th finger as the second "clamp".
I'm in the "Lucky" circumstance that I do not feel burns so I have to be extra carefull. However the chance to burn is rather small. The solder irons are in their stands so it is impossible to grab the wrong end.

But looking at the way you tear that poor laminator down I'm not really supprised you burn your self. (only looked a few minutes, I think you will have to change a lot if you want more viewers)

[cybermaus]

Congenital analgesia? Would be rare!

But if so, or if any other reason why you do not feel burns, does that not mean you should exactly avoid trying to hold stuff with your hands?

[XOIIO]

I would advise you guys to never start playing with HV stuff. Natural selection is always ready and waiting.

Can't say as I've ever grabbed the wrong end of a soldering in all the years I've been using one. Always use the stand!

Not everyone was lucky enough to start out with a stand.

I never used or missed a third hand. I use my thumb and second finger as one "clamp" and middelfinger and 4th finger as the second "clamp".
I'm in the "Lucky" circumstance that I do not feel burns so I have to be extra carefull. However the chance to burn is rather small. The solder irons are in their stands so it is impossible to grab the wrong end.

But looking at the way you tear that poor laminator down I'm not really supprised you burn your self. (only looked a few minutes, I think you will have to change a lot if you want more viewers)

Had no choice but to tear it apart that much, I build up my own simple circuit using an attiny85 to replace the purely analog control method it used which stopped working properly.

[KJDS]

I've done it, repairing a disco unit years ago using an old Weller mains powered iron without a stand. I'd unplugged it an hour before picking it up, but my helpful mate had plugged it back in just in case I needed it again.

[GEuser]

Plenty of times , I'm a slow learner Ha Ha

The last time I had a all smd radio that I was modifying , it needed both hands really and I could not look away from the area as that stuff is so small so there I was , i had the target area fixed and really concentrating not to move anything , reached out for the iron unconsciously (it was flat on the bench after loosing the area several times) and still unconsciously as I was so fixed on keeping the target and me thinks 'what's that sizzling sound I can hear' THEN yeeoooowwwch! , it went deep too .

Until next time  , I'm a hobbyist .

[iampoor]

I left my Hakko 888 on all night. Anyone who is familiar with this iron is well aware of the.......questionable....lack of an "on" LED>
Of course this also happened to be the day that I picked it up from the bottom, for absolulty no reason.

And yes, it was at max temp.

I am an avid drummer and lets say I remeber that week fondly....

[XOIIO]

Plenty of times , I'm a slow learner Ha Ha

The last time I had a all smd radio that I was modifying , it needed both hands really and I could not look away from the area as that stuff is so small so there I was , i had the target area fixed and really concentrating not to move anything , reached out for the iron unconsciously (it was flat on the bench after loosing the area several times) and still unconsciously as I was so fixed on keeping the target and me thinks 'what's that sizzling sound I can hear' THEN yeeoooowwwch! , it went deep too .

Until next time  , I'm a hobbyist .

It actually sizzled? oh god, I've never had that happen. You must have gotten it by the tip.

[8086]

I've touched something I recently soldered before it was cool on several occasions but never grabbed the hot end of my soldering iron.

People actually do this?? 

[GEuser]

Plenty of times , I'm a slow learner Ha Ha

The last time I had a all smd radio that I was modifying , it needed both hands really and I could not look away from the area as that stuff is so small so there I was , i had the target area fixed and really concentrating not to move anything , reached out for the iron unconsciously (it was flat on the bench after loosing the area several times) and still unconsciously as I was so fixed on keeping the target and me thinks 'what's that sizzling sound I can hear' THEN yeeoooowwwch! , it went deep too .

Until next time  , I'm a hobbyist .

It actually sizzled? oh god, I've never had that happen. You must have gotten it by the tip.

That's what the wrong end is!

[cybermaus]

@lampoor: I do remember coming home from a 2 week business trip to discover I left my iron on.

I still did not grab it wrongly. But I did decide on that day to have a master switch for for the entire workbench with a clearly visible light.

[iampoor]

@lampoor: I do remember coming home from a 2 week business trip to discover I left my iron on.

I still did not grab it wrongly. But I did decide on that day to have a master switch for for the entire workbench with a clearly visible light.

Same here! Now my work lights and the iron are wired on the same circuit with a switch. No accidents now. :-)

[XOIIO]

I'm a total retard due to arthritis but even so I've never grabbed the wrong end. Worst I did was drop an Antex iron once but didn't burn myself. Now I use Hakko and the cables are much more flexible, so I don't drop them. Really, I find it hard to imagine how anyone could grab the wrong end when the iron is in the stand.

Yeah that's another thing changing from a direct wall plug one to a proper adjustable one, in my case a hakko as well, you don't need to fight the cable every time you want to move the iron. It definitely reduces mishaps.

[arcom]

Happened only once when I was in elementary school. I have never been good at multitasking while music was playing so I grabbed the wrong end of a 25W iron. After that I bought a cheap soldering iron stand and nowadays I use a proper soldering station. Had plenty of hot solder balls flying around and hitting my fingers though. Once I managed to touch the tip with my thumb so now I have a nice little scar as a reminder

[Psi]

I really don't get how anyone can 'grab the wrong end' of an iron.
It's not like the ends look the same in any way.
Slipping with the iron and touching it to skin on the other hand, sure, i've done that many times.


Oh, and on the subject of hot glue burns.. The trick with hot glue is really simple.
If you get it on your skin, RUB IT IN!!
Seriously, rubbing it in massively spreads out the surface area and it cools down to non-burn temp almost instantly.
It still hurts but doesn't keep hurting.

Once you start doing this you will never get burnt with hot glue again.

[tom66]

Never directly burnt skin on a soldering iron, but I have burned my fingernail when I first started because I held the soldering iron wrong (holding board next to iron with flat finger...) The funny thing is, since fingernails don't have pain receptors, you don't notice until you smell burning keratin, which smells like burning hair. Then you see the hole in the fingernail.

[nihilism]

I voted yes but i don't think I've actually ever literally grabbed the wrong end of the iron, just a few mishaps over the years where I've made contact with the wrong end. Never at the bench though, always in the field soldering wires sticking out a wall or under a bench etc. requiring three or more hands sometimes. (I've been a security / audio-visual field technician for the past 10 years).
The worst soldering injury i can remember though was not from the iron, but from a large blob of solder landing on my leg while i was in a difficult position (under a supermarket checkout counter). I couldn't flick it off and i made it all the way through the skin. I still have the scar.

[TerraHertz]

The lesson I seem to have a lot of trouble learning, is DON'T solder sitting down while wearing shorts.
Yes I did once very long ago grab the wrong end of an iron. Careless, not looking, it had moved due to the weight of the cord, etc. Never again.

But the shorts mistake is so easy. 'It's a hot day, I'll be careful not to drop solder splatters...'

At least I've learned never to arc weld while wearing sneakers.

[Psi]

At least I've learned never to arc weld while wearing sneakers.

hehe, jandals would be worse.

[sleemanj]

Can't say I've ever grabbed the wrong end of the iron.

But the odd burn is a given, hot glue and solder wick are the worst for it, I can't seem to ever use hot glue without much swearing, and solder wick is about the same, whoever invented that god awful stuff should be shot.

[c4757p]

Can't say I've ever grabbed it. Brushed many times. And I've pretty much built up a tolerance for holding leads/wick while soldering - though the key is knowing exactly how long the iron can touch it before it becomes too hot. If you squeeze harder you get a bit more time, as the heat distributes more thoroughly.

[VK3DRB]

Not only that, I poked the very fine hot soldering tip deep into my finger.

But there was no blood as the juices had been sealed in, just like sizzling a steak at an Aussie BBQ.
Ouch!

[and101]

I grabbed the wrong end once when I was younger and not so experienced with a soldering iron.  It sizzled a bit and left a perfect imprint of the iron tip on my thumb.  That was around the same time I learned that it is a bad idea to wear shorts while soldering.

[hiddensoul]

Another fun (but much rarer I think) situation is when a ball of hot solder flings off or drops leaving a round indent in your skin for a while. That's only ever happened to me once.

I still have the 1cm across scar on the inside of my left leg just above the knee from a rouge solder drop when i was a kid in the 80's.... Now the solder was one thing but who can remember the attire of the 1980's ?

Do Nylon tracksuits come to mind ? Mine was a silver and navy blue one and molten solder mixed with molten nylon seared in to my leg I still wince..... 

[TerraHertz]

At least I've learned never to arc weld while wearing sneakers.

hehe, jandals would be worse.

Probably not, because you could flick the blob of molten steel off your foot. Nylon woven sneakers and synthetic socks on the other hand, make a melted mess that retains molten steel very well. Trust me on this.


Oh hey! I just remembered a really funny one. I was up a step ladder using a hot air gun while doing some PVC ductwork installation in the ceiling during house construction. Hot air gun used for bending the ducts, so it was set on 'hottest'. I'd momentarily rested the hot air gun on the top of the stepladder. It slipped off, and swung on the cord. The very hot round metal end of the gun made a hard landing on my bare calf. Shorts again.
For a long time I had a rather cool looking new-moon shaped semicircular scar.

[GreyWoolfe]

I can honestly say that I have never grabbed the wrong end of a soldering iron.  I always wear shorts here in Florida so, of course, I regularly drop molten solder on my legs.  I used to have a Radio Shack desoldering iron that I have scars on my arms from touching it while reaching over it.  I also use a small butane torch with a hot air attachment for small heat shrink tubing that I have laid my arm on.  I have a very high tolerance for pain so I typically hear the sizzle before feeling anything.  I do like the fact that there is no blood as the wound is instantly cauterized .  When we were remodeling the second bathroom, I was sitting on the floor using a hot air gun to loosen the glue from the old linoleum floor when I laid it down on my leg-see above with the shorts wearing in Florida thing.  I jumped and so did my wife.  There was a point a few years ago where I was burning myself so much soldering that my wife got me a prescription for silvadene, which is a burn treatment medication.  Ironically, she ended up the first one to use it

[Fsck]

Wow...

Never touched the hot end of an iron. Have however touched things that were previously soldered that I thought were cooled but were obviously not.

[grumpydoc]

Managed to pick up an iron which I thought was off by the hot end when I was a teenager and managed to brush the desolder gun briefly against my knuckle recently but no major burns from soldering. Hot fingers and the occasional "ouch" don't really count.

Potentially the worst burn was actually when I was doing some plumbing - I'd turned the butane torch off but managed to knock it back against my finger almost immediately. I wound up with the curved edge of the burner making a neat pucnhed out hole about 2mm deep by 1mm wide and maybe 1cm long. Of course as it was a full thinkness burn it didn't hurt.

Remember, the worst burns aren't painful because they kill the nerve endings in the skin rather than just damage them (which is why burns hurt in the first place).

[Hypernova]

One is not considered a true electronics engineer until he receives his Mark-of-Iron 

All things considered I got burned surprisingly rarely. My first iron was a stand-less from Dick Smith in grammar school and I usually just sling it over my desk lamp (where I also hanged tools under with magnets) or even my bedside post (small room), it got left on often too.

[robrenz]

No but I have buried a 3/32 diameter tungsten electrode of a tig torch about 3/4" deep into my thigh.
I was using a gas lens to have that much electrode extended to reach into a crevice. The electrode was still glowing red/orange and it slipped out of gloved hand a fell into my thigh right thru my apron and jeans. I yanked it out instantly and the ceramic cup left a burn circle around the hole which did not bleed at all since it was cauterized. It only gave a dull ache which lasted about a day

[G7PSK]

Tempting fate here but I have never burnt myself with a soldering iron, but I did shrink fit a steel toe cap leather boot onto my left foot once when cutting some steel plate with oxy-fuel cutting torch, somehow while not concentrating on where my feet were I cut the plate right over my foot, the shower of hot metal and gas shrank the boot and residual heat in the leather turned the whole of the top of my foot bright red before I could get the boot off, which I had to do with a Stanley knife as it had become so tight. Blast Google's broken the smileys again.

[cybermaus]

Smileys work if you first "preview". They do not work directly from the reply.
(Preview would be a good habit anyway)

[IO390]

Yes, unfortunately.

I've also burned my tongue with a soldering iron too.

As well as a few other places, which I shan't delve into. And no, I have absolutely no idea how. None at all.

[GreyWoolfe]

Yes, unfortunately.

I've also burned my tongue with a soldering iron too.

As well as a few other places, which I shan't delve into. And no, I have absolutely no idea how. None at all.

 

[Phaedrus]

I accidentally blew up a capacitor with my Weller. I was soldering on a board, and because of the angle the body of the iron was right next to a 50V electrolytic. I accidentally rested the iron against the cap without noticing. I noticed an odd smell, then POP. The cap vented. Fortunately it didn't spray out like a volcano, but I could still smell the electrolyte.

Fortunately I had a spare. I think there's still a stain on the iron though, from the burning plastic wrapper.

[carpelux]

I've done it. Once.

A looong time ago, when I was about ten years old i got a soldering iron as a christmas present. I spent all christmas eve practicing my soldering skills, and as I didn't have any stand for the iron I just laid on the table. At one moment I got tangled up with the cable and the iron fell of the table.I reacted by reflex and grabbed the iron by the palm of my hand. Wrong end, Ouch, couldn't straighten my hand for weeks

[hagster]

Yes, I'm ashamed to admit I once passes the iron from one hand to another(the stupid way). Let go pretty darn quick. No scars.

[XOIIO]

Yes, unfortunately.

I've also burned my tongue with a soldering iron too.

As well as a few other places, which I shan't delve into. And no, I have absolutely no idea how. None at all.

Your toungue? how???

Yes, I'm ashamed to admit I once passes the iron from one hand to another(the stupid way). Let go pretty darn quick. No scars.

Yeah that's how I have usually done it

[Prime73]

Another fun (but much rarer I think) situation is when a ball of hot solder flings off or drops leaving a round indent in your skin for a while. That's only ever happened to me once.

Happened to me I'd say about 20 years ago - still have the mark

[nanofrog]

Never grabbed the wrong end, but have burnt myself a fair number of times. Most involved a firestick that rolled off the cheesy little stands that come with them. Worst one was when it rolled off, and landed in my lap. OUCH!

Most times, it was a finger getting tagged while holding/manipulating solder.  Holding the solder with a hemostat solved that little problem.   

[Neilm]

At work someone in production managed to burn themselves on an iron. They filled in the accident book as required.

Now the company mandates that irons should be turned off at all times unless ready to solder.

[IO390]

Yes, unfortunately.

I've also burned my tongue with a soldering iron too.

As well as a few other places, which I shan't delve into. And no, I have absolutely no idea how. None at all.

Your toungue? how???

Tongue I'm not sure. The rest was one of those little butane soldering irons. The exhaust was on the side just behind the tip, long story short, it fell on my trousers with the exhaust pointing downwards... Fucking lucky I caught it before it burned through.

[Corporate666]

I went to an electronics trade show years ago... I walked by the booth of the local Pace distributor.  I was thinking of buying their irons, so I picked one up and was looking at how the element went in... then I got that sizzle and shooting pain and realized it was turned on and I had just grabbed it firmly with my whole hand.

I quickly dropped it and then put it back into the stand.  The salesman was just standing there dumbfounded, and he said "why would you grab it by the element?"

I looked back at him with the same look and said "why would you have all of these turned on?".

He didn't get it... but to this day, I still don't get why on earth you would have a row of soldering irons all turned on.  It's not like they were doing demonstrations or you could use the iron to test out.  It was just a bunch of irons on a table with the handpieces out front - turned on.  Dumbest.  Idea.  Ever.

[scientist]

Smileys work if you first "preview". They do not work directly from the reply.
(Preview would be a good habit anyway)

No, in Chrome pressing the smiley icons to insert them doesn't work.

[iampoor]

I went to an electronics trade show years ago... I walked by the booth of the local Pace distributor.  I was thinking of buying their irons, so I picked one up and was looking at how the element went in... then I got that sizzle and shooting pain and realized it was turned on and I had just grabbed it firmly with my whole hand.

I quickly dropped it and then put it back into the stand.  The salesman was just standing there dumbfounded, and he said "why would you grab it by the element?"

I looked back at him with the same look and said "why would you have all of these turned on?".

He didn't get it... but to this day, I still don't get why on earth you would have a row of soldering irons all turned on.  It's not like they were doing demonstrations or you could use the iron to test out.  It was just a bunch of irons on a table with the handpieces out front - turned on.  Dumbest.  Idea.  Ever.

Maybe they were too heap to put security tags on them. Leaving them On would do the trick   

[wilheldp]

Well, a common saying is "they'll steal anything that isn't red hot or nailed down."  Having a soldering iron booth has a built-in security system.

[AlfBaz]

I use to do a lot of soldering out in the field and got into the habit of wiping the tip on my work pants. When I went home the habit continued where I wrecked a good pair of pants and burnt my leg on several occasions when I forgot I was wearing shorts

[Frenchie]

Voted yes, but never actually grabbed it per se. Burnt myself several times as a kid by not watching what I was doing and getting the other hand in the way which is just as dumb and warrants a yes vote.

My last burn was grabbing a board with a big copper plane that I'd just hot air reworked.

[IanB]

"Have you grabbed the hot end of a soldering iron?"

No. That would be dumb 

[echen1024]

I remember as an elementary student, I was just getting into electronics, and loved those little Velleman kits I could buy at Fry's. One time, I was using my weller fire cracker, and put it on the stand. Not thinking, I reached over to get it, and I grabbed the tip firmly. Very soon something along the lines of YYEEEOOOOOWWWW and a few Chinese expletives were shooting through the house. I remember throwing the fucking iron against the wall and looking at the big, soldering iron shaped imprint in my palm. Father was not pleased.

[cybermaus]

Smileys work if you first "preview". They do not work directly from the reply.
(Preview would be a good habit anyway)

No, in Chrome pressing the smiley icons to insert them doesn't work.

I am using Chrome. It does not work in the window you get for typing after you press reply or quote. But if you then press preview, but it will work in the window you get after you press preview.

[KJDS]

It wasn't a soldering iron but a big duplexer. About 14kg of metal and there was one very awkward solder joint on it that could only be made by putting the unit on a hot plate and bringing it up to temp. a technician was just finishing the joint and asked if I could inspect it. I peered in, but the light wasn't right, so i picked up this 14kg block to angle it better to the lights. I'd just got a clear view of the joint and could see it was good when one part of my brain told the other part of my brain that it was experiencing pain from the fingers and that something should be done. I put it down gently, otherwise the joint would have failed and we'd have had to start over.

i had no feeling in my fingertips for a while.

[hedgewallace]

Back in year 8 at school, I made a lighthouse in science. I burnt my self so many times I went to school with burns all over my hands, and I couldn't write properly!
no-one else needed to use a soldering iron, so they didn't feel the pain!

Oh there the days when you had a plug in soldering iron without a stand!

I have also burn't my-self using a hot glue gun. I was up-side down gluing wires in our boat, and a bit of glue dripped on my forehead! It was a great start to my holiday, a burn mark on my forehead!

[G7PSK]

Smileys work if you first "preview". They do not work directly from the reply.
(Preview would be a good habit anyway)

No, in Chrome pressing the smiley icons to insert them doesn't work.

I am using Chrome. It does not work in the window you get for typing after you press reply or quote. But if you then press preview, but it will work in the window you get after you press preview.

They worked at one time then they didn't then they did for a short time and now they don't again, now I will try preview.--   Edit. So they do! do they work in edit- No.

[XOIIO]

Back in year 8 at school, I made a lighthouse in science. I burnt my self so many times I went to school with burns all over my hands, and I couldn't write properly!
no-one else needed to use a soldering iron, so they didn't feel the pain!

Oh there the days when you had a plug in soldering iron without a stand!

I have also burn't my-self using a hot glue gun. I was up-side down gluing wires in our boat, and a bit of glue dripped on my forehead! It was a great start to my holiday, a burn mark on my forehead!

Oh man, that's great.

[cybermaus]

Smileys work if you first "preview". They do not work directly from the reply.
(Preview would be a good habit anyway)

No, in Chrome pressing the smiley icons to insert them doesn't work.

I am using Chrome. It does not work in the window you get for typing after you press reply or quote. But if you then press preview, but it will work in the window you get after you press preview.

They worked at one time then they didn't then they did for a short time and now they don't again, now I will try preview.--   Edit. So they do! do they work in edit- No.

But in edit too, you can go to preview, and then they work again.

[c4757p]

This is somewhat relevant.

Christ. Dumbest "safety quiz" I've ever taken.

[cybermaus]

Well, after reading this thread it is clear that #1, #2 and #5 are not as obvious as you would think.


Edit: but seriously: the reason these and other such workplace quizzes are required is not so much to teach people, but to avoid liability. I am sure McDonald's wished they made everybody fill in a "Coffee is a scalding hot if you spill it on yourself Yes/No" questionnaire after the infamous hot-coffee lawsuit.

[grumpydoc]

I am sure McDonald's wished they made everybody fill in a "Coffee is a scalding hot if you spill it on yourself Yes/No" questionnaire after the infamous hot-coffee lawsuit.

If you read the article (which can fairly easily be verified) it seems entirely appropriate that McDonalds lost that one.

We all like to complain about over-zealous health and safety idiocy but if we never had concerns about improving workplace safety we'd probably still be sending children into working looms to fix broken threads and not worrying about the occasional complete loss of fingers.

[Tinkerer]

Never grabbed the hot end bfore but I have burnt myself. Cord got caught and the iron fumbled. Managed to avoid most of it but not before it knicked the back of two of my knuckles. Luckily the spots were only a couple mm. Took the skin right off though.

[vk6zgo]

I would advise you guys to never start playing with HV stuff. Natural selection is always ready and waiting.

Can't say as I've ever grabbed the wrong end of a soldering in all the years I've been using one. Always use the stand!

"Natural selection" my bum!

I've played around with more HV stuff than I care to remember,& I've grabbed the wrong end of an iron.
The hazards of HV are of another level completely,& most people know this.

The worst you are going to get by grabbing the wrong end of an iron is a nasty burn,& once you have done it,you are very unlikely to repeat the experience.

There are other things you can do,though!

Back in the day,a popular iron in Oz was the "Scope" brand.
These used a carbon element which was pressed against the back of the copper tip when a ring around the handle was pushed forward.giving"instant heat".

They were really quite good for valve type equipment,as you could manoeuvre the cold iron between a spiderweb of components,& only have heat when you needed it.
They could also solder quite large terminals & the like.

The downside was that the carbon elements would eventually become too short to make the connection,so that you sat there for a while,before you realised you weren't going to get any heat!

I,and some others developed the habit of testing the iron by holding it fairly close to our faces & waiting to feel the heat from the tip.
One one occasion,I misjudged the distance & placed the iron tip on the tip of my noise---Gee,that made my eyes water!

No lasting agony,though,as human noses aren't very sensitive to pain.

Back when I thought I could learn car bodywork from a book,I was continually picking up the hot end of gas welding rods,whilst attempting to fix rust on an old car.

In one magazine,it was suggested that I bend the cold end into a hook shape so I would know which was which.

This worked well for a while,until I got the "hook" caught under a wheel arch.

Impatiently,I jerked on the rod,it came loose & my hand swung into the very hot outside "feather" of the Oxy -Acetylene flame.

Now,that hurt!
You can forget your "fancy pants" solder tips!!!!

[TerraHertz]

No lasting agony,though, as human noses aren't very sensitive to pain.

Oh that's not true at all!

You know those big dropsaw-like abrasive-wheel cut off machines? Used for sawing through thick bits of steel quickly?
They have a simple clamping setup, to hold the workpiece. Much like a vice.
Which works fine for holding rectangular and round bars, but one time when cutting a piece of Dexion shelving L-beam, I made the rookie mistake of clamping it like this:   Wheel direction ---> ]L[
The problem is Dexion L-beam has a radius corner. So it didn't take much to work it loose from the clamp jaws, especially since the wheel starts cutting from the top down.

The thing with high speed power tools, is if you got it right nothing bad happens, but if you got it wrong, the bad things happen very suddenly and with a loud BANG!

Anyway, loud bang, huge blow to face, and finding myself laying on back on floor. All in one instant.
The bit of steel had come loose, turned, jammed the cutting blade, and been thrown end first at my nose. Like being punched in the face, but with a pointy thing. I can assure you that it hurt, a lot.

Nice cut and swelling and very painful cartilage nose end bits for a while, but no permanent damage.

The whole thing was about as stupid as grabbing the wrong end of a soldering iron. I have no idea how I made that dumb error. Normally I wouldn't have. Not going to again.

[vk6zgo]

OK,but that was more like a massive punch in the nose!

I was really referring to a burn,or even a scratch on the nose--what happened to you is of another order of magnitude------like my Oxy-set burn,compared to a soldering iron burn.

[Psi]

The thing with high speed power tools, is if you got it right nothing bad happens, but if you got it wrong, the bad things happen very suddenly and with a loud BANG!

Anyway, loud bang, huge blow to face, and finding myself laying on back on floor. All in one instant.
The bit of steel had come loose, turned, jammed the cutting blade, and been thrown end first at my nose. Like being punched in the face, but with a pointy thing. I can assure you that it hurt, a lot.

Yeah, i tried to cut the end off a paintbrush a few months back using the drop saw.
There was some dried paint set on the very end but the rest of the bristles were brand new and i wanted to save the brush.

The dropsaw started cutting fine but it must have gripped a hard bit of paint and twisted the brush because it swung around violently and smashed into the tip of one of my fingers.
Hurt like hell for a few days but no real injury.

ps, angle grinders scare me the most.

[G7PSK]

I am sure McDonald's wished they made everybody fill in a "Coffee is a scalding hot if you spill it on yourself Yes/No" questionnaire after the infamous hot-coffee lawsuit.

If you read the article (which can fairly easily be verified) it seems entirely appropriate that McDonalds lost that one.

We all like to complain about over-zealous health and safety idiocy but if we never had concerns about improving workplace safety we'd probably still be sending children into working looms to fix broken threads and not worrying about the occasional complete loss of fingers.

Just read all of that and by the same reasoning she should have sued her grandson the car maker and the maker of her clothes. for not having warnings about hot coffee or other liquids in cars, any one and all of the facilitators of her stupid mistake could be held responsible under those criteria. As for serving coffee that is too hot McDonalds would have been held liable for any and all illness caused by the coffee not being sterile due to not being held at sufficient temperature.

[grumpydoc]

As for serving coffee that is too hot McDonalds would have been held liable for any and all illness caused by the coffee not being sterile due to not being held at sufficient temperature.

They would only need t o hold it at 60^oC to kill any bacteria.

The real clincher for me (and I suspect significant for the court) was the fact that there was clear evidence of McD's knowing about the problem as they'd paid out for not merely tens but hundreds of previous claims for scalds but still felt that they should serve the coffee at almost 90^oC.

Also the court did decide that Liebeck had some responsibility in the incident - they ascribed blame 20% to her and 80% to McDonalds.

[lapm]

Haven't taken wrong end but have derped few times otherwise.

For example tried to rest hot soldering iron against my leg, not recommending trying this at home. Luckily reacted fast and didint get too bad burn..

Once sticked hot tip of iron in my other palm.. Thats was painful...

[hiddensoul]

angle grinders scare me the most.

I dont mind small angle grinders but big ones scare me, as do the large demo blades in chain saws as used by emergency services to get in to cars and buildings. I was a volunteer fire fighter for years in Perth and I did car rescue but no way was I using the demo saw 

[Dave Turner]

Never; but in the days when all I had was an Antex I have picked up the iron without realizing I'd trodden on the mains cable and dragged the iron through my hand. Definitely need a new smiley to express this.

[GreyWoolfe]

Perhaps one that says "Dammit, man!"

[babysitter]

Once rested a hot soldering iron on my wrist when initiating a emergency call for somebody else many years ago. Just tried to find the mark but in the meantime it is gone. That was in the days without the money for a stand. Anyway, he most important lesson I learned quite quick: If it starts to move, let it drop.

[johansen]

I managed to burn myself with a soldering iron between the two fingers of my left hand (wasn't entirely sober)
yeah, you know that sensitive spot where the skin is as thin as paper? yeah, right in there. both sides too...


btw, i seem to have developed an allergy to copper dust getting in my nose.. as in, it hurts for days. similar sensation as mild chlorine gas exposure.

[cosmos]

I also had an Antex (15W, must be more than 30years ago now).
These had no stand, only a hook you would hang it by, leaving the element straight up and in the air not touching anything... if you paid attention.
I looked for pictures, these days they are yellow, mine was red with a very small and rounded metal hook.

I must have made most of the stupid things one can do with this one...
Missing getting the hook to catch and catching again it on the way down (by the element ... ouch...)
(as someone else mentioned) stepping on the cable and having the iron ripped out of the hand while trying to put it somewhere above normal work height.
missing getting the hook to catch and melting/burning stuff when it found an unintended new position 20cm further down.
placing it on a flat surface and then moving the cable so it tipped over making a 10cm burn mark ...

Now ... I love my WSD81 ... and the Antex is just a faded memory.

[XOIIO]

I managed to burn myself with a soldering iron between the two fingers of my left hand (wasn't entirely sober)
yeah, you know that sensitive spot where the skin is as thin as paper? yeah, right in there. both sides too...


btw, i seem to have developed an allergy to copper dust getting in my nose.. as in, it hurts for days. similar sensation as mild chlorine gas exposure.

Between the two fingers on your left hand?

What happened to the other three?  (Well, two and a thumb)

[Dave Turner]

Let us consider that in years past, a good many of which I remember, all we had were direct mains antex, weller, solex (or was it solon) et. al. electric soldering irons. My first iron was a lump of copper heated over my mother's coal gas fired oven. Nevertheless good technique allowed the construction of a vast amount of electronic devices.

I'm the happy owner of of a Blackjack BK6000 rework station, currently somewhat underused I'm afraid, which is my instrument of choice on my bench. However don't expect me to throw away my collection of old soldering irons; I for  one won't be without them despite the scars!   

[jwm]

I have not grabbed the wrong end of a soldering iron, but I did get molten solder in my eyeball once.

I was desoldering a shielding can on a circuit board and didn't realize the can was in tension when soldered in place and actually quite springy, perhaps it was squeezed into slightly misplaced holes on the PCB or something. As soon as the last bit of solder melted on one side the metal sprang out of the PCB acting like a little catapult throwing the molten solder right into my face. No permanent damage, I did have a yellow spot on the white of my eye for a while, luckily it didn't hit the lens area. I didn't realize it had actually hit my eyeball (I was too distracted by the solder burning my face) until I looked in the mirror later and saw the spot.

[scientist]

I had a solder ball hit my eyelid, blinked just in time.

[XOIIO]

I have not grabbed the wrong end of a soldering iron, but I did get molten solder in my eyeball once.

I was desoldering a shielding can on a circuit board and didn't realize the can was in tension when soldered in place and actually quite springy, perhaps it was squeezed into slightly misplaced holes on the PCB or something. As soon as the last bit of solder melted on one side the metal sprang out of the PCB acting like a little catapult throwing the molten solder right into my face. No permanent damage, I did have a yellow spot on the white of my eye for a while, luckily it didn't hit the lens area. I didn't realize it had actually hit my eyeball (I was too distracted by the solder burning my face) until I looked in the mirror later and saw the spot.

Holy shit, you got lucky as hell.

I had a solder ball hit my eyelid, blinked just in time.

I think I too got solder on my eyelid, but it was just a little tiny bit, barely anything.

[JuKu]

Once I nudged the cord, pulled the iron off the stand and by instinct, caught a falling object. Unfortunately, I didn't miss.

Another occasion, I did some soldering, needed to change the tip, got distracted, noticed an undone connection and started to install the tip I just took off. Usually, when you change tips, you can put the new tip in place by bare fingers... Ouch!

[peter.mitchell]

i often use a butane soldering iron for prototyping just because i can move it to my other desks ect without hassle, and there is no cable to hit anything on the desk, also the catalyst works as a for air gun in a pinch.

when i put it down for a moment, i often stick it in the center of a solder spool, it's the perfect size, however i also use the same hole in the spool to occasionally hold markers, one day i reached to grab a marker from the spool whilst working on something, turns out it wasn't the marker i grabbed.

[klr5205]

In one of my finer moments I was changing the tip of a hot soldering iron, and in the process I dropped the set screw - so of course I reach down and pick it up! I was rewarded with a nice circular blister between my thumb and forefinger.

[GEuser]

JuKu Ha Ha Ha I did that once I was most worried that it would burn the carpet at first , then it happened again and being fairly quick in movement I thought I was smart to catch it again by the handle this time but it still half got me .

Then another time , exact same situation and iron I got smarter (so one thought) and as it fell off the bench I thinks "Ha you don't fool me this time" and just let it fall , but guess who's foot was directly underneath and was wearing flip flops  , pointy end straight in from the top 

Ha Ha Ha Ha

[jwm]

In one of my finer moments I was changing the tip of a hot soldering iron, and in the process I dropped the set screw - so of course I reach down and pick it up! I was rewarded with a nice circular blister between my thumb and forefinger.

I actually am wary of ever changing my iron tip when it is not on. Or even interacting with it much when it is off. If I develop a muscle memory for tip changing on a cold iron I could easily accidentally do it when distracted when it is on, but if I learn when the iron is hot and I always have to use the silicone heat resistant pad then no big deal if I am distracted and use the pad even if the iron is off. Sort of like I developed the instinctive habit of always tapping my pocket to see if my keys are there when leaving the house whether or not I am locking the door, make the default case I learn fail-safe and don't have to worry about it in the future.

I still have issues where I instinctively untangle the cord of my soldering iron waving the tip around or pulling it towards me without thinking, it's because I regularly have to untangle cords not attached to hot burny things.

[GEuser]

I don't remember and I could not be bothered going back through all the posts

Has Mr Dave been in here or what  ?

[Terabyte2007]

I set my arm down on a 45 watt before. That left a mark!