Frank,
I love the 3/8" corded Dewalt drill I bought from Sears about 6 years ago.
I've put it through a lot of abuse, including drilling through brick and
concrete walls, and plenty of treated lumber when I helped my uncle
build/fix his pool deck. It was about $70 and well worth the money. Not
sure where they are made now.
I have another of those 50 yr old 3/4" metal drills. If you want it, it's
yours. Anyone else who wants it, and can pick it up (it's heavy), can have
it.
On soldering guns/irons. It depends on your use. Guns heat up quickly, and
have more power, but they cool quickly and tend to burn up the tips.
They're good for small short jobs. Extended use can turn a tip into a
pretzel. Don't pull the trigger so long that the tip turns red. If you
can't solder a wire before the tip gets red, the point needs to be cleaned.
Dip it in flux, and rub it (quickly) on a crappy towel. Keep a glass of
water handy just in case. And don't use the towel you just used to mop up
the gas overspill from the lawn mower. My gun is a Weller, but when I
bought it from a small lumber yard, it had enough dust on it to make me
believe that it was at least 10 years old when I got it.
Irons take much longer to heat up, but they stay hot until you unplug them.
Great on longer jobs where you have a lot of wires to solder, or you need to
figure stuff out as you go. Also perfect on circuit boards as they are
easier to maneuver. If you're using it on a CB, remember to use a heat sink
(in fact, using a heat sink makes any soldering significantly easier). Do
not get a 40 watt iron, as they do not really get hot enough. A 75 watt
craftsman is what I use, and it's been used on plenty of Lionel trains over
the years (maybe 6 years old?).
As for the tips, I remove them before each use, and go over them quickly
with some 1500 grit paper to increase current flow. I've tried electrolytic
grease, but it get drippy when the iron gets hot. If anyone knows of a high
temp EG, please let me know. I currently have the Permatex stuff from
AutoZone. And change them periodically. Especially if the copper begins to
show....
Hope this helps.
Mike
-----Original Message-----
From owner-spridgets at autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Frank Clarici
Sent: Saturday, November 01, 2003 8:15 PM
To: spridgets
Subject: Tool help needed
Where do people buy QUALITY tools these days.
My brand new crapsman drill smoked while I was inserting a drill bit.
Yes it never got to drill a hole, it smoked on start up.
And my crapsman soldering gun was another chinese joke so I smashed it
and bought a Weller, known name brand in soldering guns, I bought the
best one (make that the most expensive one) Home Defect's competion had
to offer. Yup it B-LOWES, and one would think that after 20 minutes of
pulling the trigger it should melt solder, that little curl of solder
supplied with the gun, it didn't even burn my finger when I touched it.
It was a bit warm, but it's also 75* out tonight so it was probably room
temperature.
Trash out of the box.
I think to save myself all this greif and aggravation I will go out and
buy some new tools and throw them in the trash can on my way out of
china, I mean on my way out of the mall. (same difference)
Can someone tell me where I can go to buy a REAL soldering iron?
One that gets hot enough to melt solder and one that lasts more than 1
day? Maybe even one made in the USA or Europe by people who can read.
--
Frank Clarici
Toms River, NJ
Down to just a few Sprites
http://www.exit109.com/~spritenut
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