Something unusual last week. I'd written an editorial in 009 News about skills echoing much of what I'd written here of late.
An email rolled in from an 009 Society member who is I discovered within walking distance of me. He mentioned the editorial and how his task this year was to learn to solder. He'd enrolled in what sounded like an expensive soldering/jewellery making course as he couldn't find anything locally that would teach him railway modelling type soldering skills (wire to rail, etched brass etc.). I bit my knuckle and suggested that I could probably teach him all he needed to start in an hour for the price of a cup of tea.
He wandered up the hill and it actually took an hour and a half. After which time he could solder wire to rail, two bits of brass together and a whitemetal fitting to brass with not too much effort. Three things are possible here: either I'm an excellent teacher, he's naturally talented and was worrying about nothing, or it's not as hard as everyone makes out. I suspect the later.
What it does prove is that most of these perceived skill shortages are easily solved. Why is more of this sort of thing not going on?
Well done. Good job. These days we seem to live in an Emperor's New Clothes world of "experts" who love to foster the notion that only they know, and will ever know, what they are talking about; everything from how to light a fire to how to walk on Ashdown Forest lol. This does not help peoples' self confidence. If only there was a skill-sharing database or something like that to put people in touch with each other, like you just did.
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem, can't solder for toffee. Not for want of trying, I end up with either a large blob of solder on the item, or none at all and goodness knows where it went! The local college no longer runs evening classes unless you want to learn computing or language skills. So I'll just keep trying and hope it clicks one day.
ReplyDeleteThere are loads of people who will help but it's hard to get people to sit down and learn. Most shows have demonstrators who will answer questions, but I've met people who expect you to visit them at a time and place of their choosing and then don't want to hear the answers, just you explain how what they are doing wrong should work.
ReplyDeleteJoppy - You need cleaner metal and more heat. Clean the tip of your iron regularly and use a separate flux.
Joppy - Sorry, I didn't mean you in the first paragraph. I hope my answer in the second helps.
ReplyDeleteJoppy, I had exactly the same probs when I started soldering. As Phil says, cleanliness, flux and a hot soldering iron are the key. If it's a big part, it will suck the heat away for ages, until suddenly the solder starts to flow. These days I've gone over to a cheapish refillable gas soldering iron, which I swear by.
ReplyDeleteI do love a refillable Gas torch. You can blow molten solder along the join.
DeleteHi everyone.
ReplyDeleteYou tube.
I just entered 'how to solder'? and there are loads of videos.
It is always my first port of call these days. Whether DIY jobs, photography or any other area of endeavour there will be somebody out there posting a video to help.
Indeed there are, however they don't tell you that the reason the joint hasn't worked and if you'd moved the iron in a bit or added a little more flux then it would have worked.
DeleteYou can't beat one to one to build confidence.
How many articles were there in the "good old days" of MRJ on the "simple" art of soldering? Mind you, I remember being "taught" for a whole afternoon by a well know comms company how to solder wires with a gas iron (one put on a stove!). Still do things my way, hot iron, clean work and that well known lifetime's supply tin of Fluxite! Never soldered whitemetal though!
ReplyDeleteWe've done then in BRM on the page and on the DVD but as Chris said, you can't diagnose the problem remotely. Follow the instructions and you'll be fine, but if you miss one and don't realise it then it's hard to work out what's gone wrong.
Delete