(1) Soldering outfit (fig. 10). This 55-watt soldering iron is temperature controlled. Nine
assorted tips are included with it. Everything comes in a metal box small enough to fit in the
tool chest along with the rest of the tools that make up a TK-105/G. Note particularly the
various shapes and sizes of the tips you can use with this lightweight soldering iron. The tip
seen chucked in the iron gives 600 Fahrenheit temperature. A marking on each tip tells the
heat that the tip is designed to give. Shown here unchucked are these tips: two curved fine-
point tips, one for 500 F and one for 600 F; a 750 F stub point (second from left); a 750 F
straight, flat point (third from left); a 750 F sharp point; a 500 F fine point; a 500 F eight-
angle flat point (third from right); and a 500 F "hoe" blade (second from right).
(2) Items for use in soldering (fig. 11). Solder (shown at upper right) is a lead-tin alloy in the
form of wire with a rosin core. Rosin-core solder is the preferred type of solder to use in
electrical and electronic work, because it doesn't tend to corrode soldered connections the
way acid-core or acid-flux solder does. Your local unit or shop supply replenishes your
supply of solder as you need it. One pound comes wound on the spool. Being a soft metal,
and only about 1/32 of an inch in diameter, it is easily cut off with diagonal cutters. The
solder remover syringe (shown at upper left) is used to remove excess "blobs" of molten
solder. This syringe could come in handy for other uses too; for instance, to blow away dust
from something that is to be soldered, to hold or dispense drops of water to cool off a hot,
molten blob of solder that is dropped where you don't want it, or to blow away filings from a
workpiece, etc. But by using this syringe as intended, you can make a neatly soldered
connection instead of a lumpy, sloppy one that might be rejected by the shop's inspector or
quality control element. A heatsink pliers (shown at top center) is often referred to simply as
a heatsink. It is a metal clamp used to conduct heat away from parts that might become
damaged by too much heat while you solder. Shown beneath the heatsink pliers is
craftsman's tweezers, quite helpful in picking up tiny parts and positioning them as necessary.
Such tweezers additionally can serve as a heatsink. Under the tweezers is a soldering aid
tool. With insulated handle and fingerlike tip, and a metal-bristled brush on the opposite end,
the soldering aid tool saves your fingers from getting burnt and extends your reach into
tough-to-get-at places where you must solder. The ordinary varnish brush is not only handy
for brushing away dust and dirt from what is to be soldered, but it is also good for brushing
away the stray flecks of solder from things whenever drops of molten solder accidentally
have dislodged from the tip of your soldering iron and splattered. After a soldering job is
over, a brush like this can be used to apply moisture-fungus proofing (MFP), especially if the
equipment is going to be used in the tropics.
e. Special-Purpose Tools (fig. 12). The forceps-like or pliers-like tool shown here is a tube
extractor. The item that looks like a short section of pipe is really a pin straightener.
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