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Solder Sucker

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  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    WBA Consulting,

    Of course, a flexible circuit board. Roll it up. Pop it in the bottle. Done.

    Could probably power it from some of that flexible, printed, solar panel material whilst we are at it.
    http://inhabitat.com/paper-thin-printed-solar-cells-could-provide-power-for-1-3-billion/
  • I'll keep the leaded. After this many years, what difference will it make? And no worries over the tin whisker problem. Always did like the smell of rosin core. If tedious and repetitive is what you like, build a whole Z80 computer with analog and digital i/o and static memory using wire master to code your schematic by hand and then take the wire list it generates to wrap the whole project.
  • Okay.... I love to solder also.... Most of the time, I think it is therapeutic for nervousness, at least until I develop unintended solder bridges :)

    Okay, now onto to bigger issues....

    @erco

    It appears that the center board has an IC chip in which the image has been altered. What are you hiding? :)
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,244
    edited 2017-05-20 21:23
    @idbruce

    A little mystery is a good thing, n'est-ce pas?
  • I've been known to sacrifice a perfectly good piece of perfboard to use as a drill template for evenly-spaced holes -- assuming they're on multiples of 0.1" centers.

    As to leaded solder: meh! I've worked around lead, both soldering and casting, for more than 50 years. Ain't dead yet!

    -Phil

    Hello!
    Phil did you participate in the adventures of hot metal typesetting? Linotype? Or a Harris Intertype machine? The family ran a business around them for around a good long time.
    Now erco why is that kitten trying to get the robots involved in a sleep in?

  • Phil did you participate in the adventures of hot metal typesetting? Linotype? Or a Harris Intertype machine? The family ran a business around them for around a good long time.
    Nope, although my grandfather was a printer from Germany. Most of my experience with lead casting came via the fishing lure industry: http://www.pointwilson.com, a company a friend and I founded in 1981. I lasted all of two years, then segued into fruit sizing; but my friend still owns and operates the tackle company.

    -Phil
  • Most of my experience with lead casting came via the fishing lure industry: http://www.pointwilson.com, a company a friend and I founded in 1981.

    Phil

    Those are some pretty darn impressive lures, website, and packaging. What kind of distribution does the company have now? Regional? National? Worldwide?
  • What's the purpose of Lead lures? If it were made of steel, they would only be 44% bigger. Always seemed stupid to mess around with dangerous metal like that. Maybe it was just easy to cast then? And I would think lead would corrode especially fast in sea water.

    But wheel weights and r/c airplane balance weights are lead as well, so probably not just for casting convenience. So there must be something I don't know.

  • TorTor Posts: 2,010
    The_Master wrote: »
    And I would think lead would corrode especially fast in sea water.
    Lead doesn't corrode easily.

    Wikipedia (and I checked one of their sources too):
    "Its high density and resistance to corrosion have been exploited in a number of related applications. It is used as ballast in sailboat keels.[180] Its weight allows it to counterbalance the heeling effect of wind on the sails; being so dense it takes up a small volume and minimizes water resistance. It is used in scuba diving weight belts to counteract the diver's buoyancy.[181] In 1993, the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa was stabilized with 600 tonnes of lead.[182] Because of its corrosion resistance, lead is used as a protective sheath for underwater cables.[183]"

  • What's the purpose of Lead lures?

    I would guess that it is because of both the density of the metal and ease of casting, especially with the very low melting point.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    The big old Victorian house I lived in as a kid in England was full of lead.

    In the 1980's I renewed the wiring. The old cables in there were sheathed with lead.

    Round about the same time I modernized the plumbing. Sure enough we had been drinking water delivered through lead pipes for years. The word "plumbing" comes from the Latin word for lead "plumbum" after all.

    When replacing the roof slates, sure enough there was a lot of lead up there keeping the water out.

    I think my soldering with lead based solder is the least of my worries! (Not to mention my experiments with mercury as a 10 year old)

    Lead fishing weights have been outlawed in England for ages. It's not good for the swans, geese, etc that swallow it.
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,066
    edited 2017-05-22 12:46
    Oh you played with mercury too! All those good old things the kids of today miss out on ;)

    Guess we will find out that plastic toys are dangerous next.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,244
    I just delivered a toy prototype Friday which used a mercury switch as a tilt sensor. It also has a microcontroller. Old meets new.

    Worked perfectly, they loved it and want a second unit for testing. Time to order more mercury switches from China while I can!

    Maybe they'll throw in some asbestos insulation as lagniappe (or packing material!).
  • The_Master wrote: »
    What's the purpose of Lead lures? If it were made of steel, they would only be 44% bigger. Always seemed stupid to mess around with dangerous metal like that. Maybe it was just easy to cast then? And I would think lead would corrode especially fast in sea water.

    But wheel weights and r/c airplane balance weights are lead as well, so probably not just for casting convenience. So there must be something I don't know.

    In some cases the difference in density is important due to volume available. In the 60's and 70's depleted uranium was used for ballast weights for high performance aircraft due to very high density and limited volume. Don't know if that is current practice.

    Big difference btween steel & lead is ease of casting (Equipment needed to melt and hold molten metal; melting temperature also impacts requirements for mold materials.)

    Melting point of steel: approx 1370C (2500F) depending on alloy content
    Melting point of lead: approx 328C (622F)

    Steel rusts in seawater. Lead is more corrosion resistant (scuba diving weights, ship ballast.)

    Lead is soft and malleable. It is easy to cut and shape.

    Tom


  • ercoerco Posts: 20,244
    I've used lots of bare lead weights over the years for scuba diving, still have a bunch in my garage. Some people still use 'em! Per Tom, it's (dangerously) easy to work with. My brother was a diving instructor, and he'd make and award the "Lead Flipper" to the slowest swimmer in each class. He carved a small flipper out of balsa wood or something, then cast it in plaster. Melt lead with a propane torch, pour it in the open mold, and done. Finger-licking good!

  • One year, for New Years, a friend showed us how to melt lead wheel weights and create some fantastic designs. Using a metal kitchen ladle, the weights were melted over a regular stove burner. The melted lead was then dumped into a 5 gallon bucket of cold water. Some of the resultant "sculptures" were pretty interesting!
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,244
    DaveJenson wrote: »
    Some of the resultant "sculptures" were pretty interesting!

    I'm guessing something like these aluminum ant mound castings...



  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2017-05-22 20:26
    I don't know where this tradition comes from but melting little lead horse shoe shapes and throwing the molten lead into buckets of water is a common activity for New Year in Finland. Seems the idea is that you can divine how the following year will go from the resulting weird shapes. Rather like those old ladies that read your tea leaves and tell your fortune from them.

    All I get is a terrible mess, which generally is how the year will go. So I guess it works!
  • DaveJensonDaveJenson Posts: 370
    edited 2017-05-22 20:16
    Heater. wrote: »
    I don't know where this tradition comes from but melting little lead horse shoe shapes and throwing molten lead into buckets of water is a common activity for New Year in Finland. Seems the idea is that you can divine how the following year will go from the resulting weird shapes. !

    As a matter of fact, that's what my friend told me. That is was Finnish New Year's tradition!

    Look up "Molybdomancy".
  • Heater. wrote: »
    I don't know where this tradition comes from but melting little lead horse shoe shapes and throwing molten lead into buckets of water is a common activity for New Year in Finland. Seems the idea is that you can divine how the following year will go from the resulting weird shapes. Rather like those old ladies that read your tea leaves and tell your fortune from them.

    All I get is a terrible mess, which generally is how the year will go. So I guess it works!

    "Your future is revealed to me! I see that your life expectancy will soon be shortened very slightly from exposure to lead."
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Otherwise known as "uudenvuodentina" which translates to "New Years Tin".
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