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 Posted - June 05 2012 : 4:46:00 PM
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Hey Guys:
As my model making education proceeds, I find I am now doing more soldering, so I am subtly hinting for a Fathers Day gift of an X tronic 4010 soldering station, which appears far superior to the cheesy one I bought at WalMart.
Along the way, I heard of something called a soldering plate, but all it appears to be (in one image) is a sand-textured ceramic tile with some rubber feet. As it absorbs heat and the solder will not stick to it, that seems to me to be the reason for it as a work surface for soldering.
If that's the case, then a sample of an appropriate tile from a local tile outlet (for $4-5) and some cheap vinyl rubber feet at the hardware store seems like the poor man's version.
Anyone, who is far more adept at soldering, have any input on this?
Siouxlake/Ron
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Posted - June 05 2012 : 6:28:31 PM
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I've never heard of a soldering plate before. Most small soldering jobs are done with the help of those small alligator clip stands. It sounds like this is for heavier soldering tasks like leaded glass or assembling a brass loco kit.
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Posted - June 05 2012 : 7:52:57 PM
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eh, sometimes you just need a flat surface to solder on. They have special mats that are heat resistant, but a ceramic tile and rubber feet are acceptable for non-electronic soldering , ie no static issues, simple wires and electric motors. You start soldering DCC PCBs, you really should use a grounded wire to it, long as that's there, a piece of ceramic tile will work fine. Go for it!
Jerry
Electronic's repair tech, 25+ years experience
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - June 05 2012 : 10:17:04 PM
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I did a search, and found this on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Honeycomb-Ceramic-Soldering-Board-Jewelers/dp/B000OVK3XO/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hg_6
It's listed as a jeweler's soldering board, so it is for assembling metal parts like those in jewelry, or the aforementioned brass loco with a torch. /tyco/forum/uploaded/NickelPlate759/icon_mi_4.gif
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Edited by - NickelPlate759 on June 05 2012 10:26:03 PM
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Posted - June 06 2012 : 05:01:47 AM
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Nels: I saw that one Aldo and looked at it at Michaels Crafts, but figured the solder would fall into the holes, given my sloppy methods. The tile- type thing was another image I found on google.
I do have a two clip helping hands device from Harbor Freight ($3) and extra heat sink clips, but have been using a small piece of Masonite as a work base.
Looks like my el cheapo concept will be best, now- if only I get that soldering station for Fathers day .
Ron
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Posted - June 06 2012 : 11:11:56 PM
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Ron, the honeycomb one is definitely made for soldering with an open flame, and the tile probably is too, although that would be better as a work surface. Soldering electronics doesn't require any special heat proof surface, so you can get it, I just think it's overkill.
Btw, I was searching a while back and found some great sites with some electronics basics, and a list of project circuits, including how you can easily turn a diode bridge into a constant lighting circuit. 
http://www.awrr.com/descorn.html
http://www.awrr.com/circuits.html
Here's one for constant brightness LED's (tho that's less of a problem with them than it is with GOW bulbs).
http://davebodnar.com/railway/LED_light_project/
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Edited by - NickelPlate759 on June 06 2012 11:25:19 PM
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Posted - June 09 2012 : 7:12:29 PM
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Howdy Ron,
My soldering plate is a small piece ( 5" x 10" x 1/4" ) of "concrete board" left over from shower stall construction in a house 25 years ago. It is flat and the weight makes a stable work surface; I have used this with an electric soldering iron and also a propane torch. I'm confident a piece of tile will work well for you.
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Posted - June 09 2012 : 8:06:32 PM
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quote:Howdy Ron,
My soldering plate is a small piece ( 5" x 10" x 1/4" ) of "concrete board"
Originally posted by offtrackthoroughbred - June 09 2012 : 7:12:29 PM
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I believe the trade name is Durock, my tile buddy uses it to redo shower and tube installs. IT's basically concrete drywall, water impervious, won't flex, tile will stick to it and not flex and crack like regular drywall would. Need a diamond blade to cut it. Good stuff.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - June 09 2012 : 10:09:29 PM
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Went looking for some sand-textured tile today but all I could find was tumbled marble, which was not what I was referring to earlier. That durock material sounds good- like a stronger blue board used in bathroom wet areas behind wall tile. I will check that out at the Homely Depot tomorrow.
I remember the sand textured tiles from the service- we had them in our barracks(more like college dorms) in the shower areas as non-skid flooring back in the 70s.
When I fiddle up something, I'll post an image or two.
Ron
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Posted - June 09 2012 : 10:31:31 PM
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Ron, Nelson, & others....I use a "resistance soldering" station, which is sort of like a mig welder......you can clip one section of a solderable surface and then with a tinned point, heated, you can solder.....
WELL a BRASS plate with a wire "eye" terminal, then screwed into the brass plate, elelctrically connected to the soldering station "box" and then ANYTHING solderable sat ont othe brass plate conducts the electric through the brass plate to the item to be soldered, and then when the other end of the electrode is touched to the place you want to solder it instantly heats up to melt solder to the place of join.....
Always worked well for me......The trick to it is to keep the flux OFF the brass plate at all times......
Works much the same way a "welding table" works......the big clip isn't used, its actually mounted to an all steel table......Then the metal item to be welded is sat onto the table the the welding electrode it touched with the trigger pulled to feed the wire welding for a mig welder and it welds......
Most times in instances as this, you can solder a joint to the brass plate, to the item to be soldered....Same as the welding table the item to be welded is "tacked" to the table to conduct the electric to the item to be welded.....
With the tile thats spoken about it would seem to me that the task is requiring excessive heat which will char, or burn the table the works being done on.....
MOST soldering instances don't require that much heat! Unless your soldering copper pipe but thats a whole other story!
~John
Many have tried to, and failed, ya just can't repair stupid...
Do NOT try to Idiot-Proof anything!!!! God, will simply create a better......IDIOT!
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Posted - June 09 2012 : 10:36:58 PM
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John,
What, no arc welder for joining boilers together? 
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Posted - June 09 2012 : 10:58:21 PM
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Being in Electronics, I know of other materials used for soldering, in a wave machine. Here's a link to a company that supplies wave solder pallets. I have a small selection of them somewhere, that I saved from being scrapped at a company I used to work for. Some are made of epoxy resin, some of a fiberglass material, all can handle 500 degree solder temps.
http://www.professionalplastics.com/WaveSolderPalletMaterials
This is a bit overkill for most people, though, I just got lucky and was able to grab some being scrapped, ceramic tile will most certainly be fine, even stainless steel will work fine, as the solder won't stick to it easily.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - June 10 2012 : 05:38:13 AM
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Nelson,
Sorry my friend, ALL I have is a Mig Welder from Miller a small one hand carried but big enough to be on a cart.... NO gas bottle tho, as its not needed for the little amount of welding I do so..... I also have a small Acetane torch set too, hand carried, no cart for it......The bottles are slightly bigger then a 2 liter bottle os soda! My boilers are that big! LOL
~John
Many have tried to, and failed, ya just can't repair stupid...
Do NOT try to Idiot-Proof anything!!!! God, will simply create a better......IDIOT!
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