lurker
Le dullard de la commune
I have a really nice weller soldering iron station for the usual soldering tasks, but I now want to have a go at lead soldering stained glass.
Any suggestions?
Any suggestions?
meaty soldering iron
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morturn
Established Member
The ideal soldering iron for stained glass is a temperature controlled electric iron of around 100 watts.
So if your weller iron is that power, it will do the job.
So if your weller iron is that power, it will do the job.
lurker
Le dullard de la commune
morturn":3mozdbr4 said:
Oh !
Interesting!
Thanks
I thought the tip would be too fine, but now I think of it I have lots of spare tips so I could cut one down.
bourbon
Established Member
You will need a wide tip for this about 15mm I think mine is. It's 80 watts and does the job. I did stained glass work a while ago and that is what was recommended to me ( It's in the garage so I can't tell you the make sorry)
flying haggis
Established Member
this post got me searching and i found the same iron from two different suppliers at very different prices
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Weller-WLC200 ... Sw4A5YyvnZ
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Weller-WLC200 ... Sw4CFYx0XO
rip off britain or what
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Weller-WLC200 ... Sw4A5YyvnZ
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Weller-WLC200 ... Sw4CFYx0XO
rip off britain or what
AES
Established Member
+1 for the above. IF you can find one, ideally two, and IF you have gas, they are the absolute best.
I've done a lot of soldering of sheet brass, nickel silver, tinplate, lead, etc, sometimes quite big pieces, all of which of course act as a great big heat sink.
Those old fashioned irons are, IMO, still the best for such work - you file up the tip to whatever size/shape you want (they're solid copper on a steel shaft with a wooden file-type handle), put them over the gas stove on the special holder until the flame turns green, tin the tip and off you go, perfect results every time. And because you have 2 irons, as soon as the 1st one gets a bit too cool, you swap it for the 2nd (which was of course, already warming over the stove).
Caveat - I've never done any stained glass/lead work, but as you can shape the tip as you wish, I GUESS it would be a great tool for that.
We don't have gas at home here unfortunately, so I gave my 2 irons away some time ago. The nearest best thing for big jobs that I've found since (and I do also have a couple of electric irons) is the screw on soldering tip adaptor you can get for Camping Gaz blowlamps and the like. Nearly as good as the old fashioned solution above.
The key is that the big copper tip holds so much heat that although the rest of the job gets warm (hot!) you've got so much heat exactly on the spot where you need the solder that the joint takes almost immediately (IF it's clean - VERY clean).
HTH
AES
I've done a lot of soldering of sheet brass, nickel silver, tinplate, lead, etc, sometimes quite big pieces, all of which of course act as a great big heat sink.
Those old fashioned irons are, IMO, still the best for such work - you file up the tip to whatever size/shape you want (they're solid copper on a steel shaft with a wooden file-type handle), put them over the gas stove on the special holder until the flame turns green, tin the tip and off you go, perfect results every time. And because you have 2 irons, as soon as the 1st one gets a bit too cool, you swap it for the 2nd (which was of course, already warming over the stove).
Caveat - I've never done any stained glass/lead work, but as you can shape the tip as you wish, I GUESS it would be a great tool for that.
We don't have gas at home here unfortunately, so I gave my 2 irons away some time ago. The nearest best thing for big jobs that I've found since (and I do also have a couple of electric irons) is the screw on soldering tip adaptor you can get for Camping Gaz blowlamps and the like. Nearly as good as the old fashioned solution above.
The key is that the big copper tip holds so much heat that although the rest of the job gets warm (hot!) you've got so much heat exactly on the spot where you need the solder that the joint takes almost immediately (IF it's clean - VERY clean).
HTH
AES
novocaine
Established Member
I'll give a plus 2 for a real iron, I did some copper work a while back, spoke to my dad who handed me 2, knarled old irons and a couple of lengths of leading, worked a treat, used a butane torch to heat them and knocked up a little rest to hold them in the flame.
bugbear
Established Member
AES":3u03ejod said:
I've seen quite a lot of stained glass workers on TV; they all seem to use a large electric iron. I don't recall seeing a "lump on a stick" type iron being used.
(and a quick google around the net for people selling stained glass (AKA professionals) showed electric irons were universal)
BugBear
bugbear":14t8mt8c said:
If you are doing it day in day out then I am sure a proper electric iron is perfect. However it is also probably expensive. A second hand old style soldering iron costs probably a few quid at your local car boot.
bugbear
Established Member
Rorschach":2k4zbmf3 said:
A quick search showed RS (not known for low prices) selling a 200W iron with a 3 year warranty for £45.
Given the cost of coloured glass and lead cane, I'd say the iron is the cheap part of the craft.
BugBear
bugbear":3q2vzyze said:Rorschach":3q2vzyze said:
A quick search showed RS (not known for low prices) selling a 200W iron with a 3 year warranty for £45.
Given the cost of coloured glass and lead cane, I'd say the iron is the cheap part of the craft.
BugBear
I stand corrected.
lurker
Le dullard de la commune
Cheers chaps
Have decided to do a course in the autumn
Your comments reminded me I had an old copper stick one.
Just took me a few days to remember where to rummage. :roll:
Have decided to do a course in the autumn
Your comments reminded me I had an old copper stick one.
Just took me a few days to remember where to rummage. :roll:
AES
Established Member
From the above comments (and I've never watched a stained glass video) it MAY be true that a good big meaty electric iron is the better choice for such work - especially if you can get a powerful one for only 45 quid (and I've no idea what stained glass and lead costs).
But good luck with your old-fashioned jobby. Like everything else, it takes a bit of practice at first, but IMO, it's definitely the dog's do-dahs for big stuff.
AES
P.S. Please let us know how you get on.
But good luck with your old-fashioned jobby. Like everything else, it takes a bit of practice at first, but IMO, it's definitely the dog's do-dahs for big stuff.
AES
P.S. Please let us know how you get on.
bourbon
Established Member
Oh and remember to get some tallow as well
bugbear
Established Member
Well, I don't do stained glass, but following AES's paean of praise for lumps
of copper on a stick, I bought a gert big un' for 50p at today car boot sale.
As always, it's dirty and rusted, so a' cleaning I will go.
(cleaned now) Here's the business end (note scale!)
I may be back for AES's tinning advice.
BugBear
of copper on a stick, I bought a gert big un' for 50p at today car boot sale.
As always, it's dirty and rusted, so a' cleaning I will go.
(cleaned now) Here's the business end (note scale!)
I may be back for AES's tinning advice.
BugBear
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bugbear
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Eric The Viking
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I just found this whilst looking at the one BB posted. It's depressing that it's got over 1m views:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpHQ0WCDlFI
I wonder how many of his joints fail after a while... sigh.
E.
PS: for the record, heat the pipe close to thefitting, NOT the fitting itself, so that the heat travels into the joint properly. Make sure the solder travels around the circumference (and dip the end of the solder into the flux). Simple capillary fittings like those shown actually allow you to do one part of the joint at a time. I use and prefer MAPP gas, too, but that was way too much power from the blowlamp ("torch"), risking burning away the flux and creating a burned layer that can leak. It's telling that comments are disabled on that one.
He mentions 50:50 tin/lead solder in the USA this surprises me, as I thought everyone used 60:40 (well 63:37 to be exact as that's the eutectic ratio). To get back on stained glass soldering, incidentally, I'd guess you probably want NON-eutectic solder so there is a "pasty" stage as it cools, allowing you to wipe/mould the joint. I haven't done much of that sort of thing, though, so could well be wrong (often am).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpHQ0WCDlFI
I wonder how many of his joints fail after a while... sigh.
E.
PS: for the record, heat the pipe close to thefitting, NOT the fitting itself, so that the heat travels into the joint properly. Make sure the solder travels around the circumference (and dip the end of the solder into the flux). Simple capillary fittings like those shown actually allow you to do one part of the joint at a time. I use and prefer MAPP gas, too, but that was way too much power from the blowlamp ("torch"), risking burning away the flux and creating a burned layer that can leak. It's telling that comments are disabled on that one.
He mentions 50:50 tin/lead solder in the USA this surprises me, as I thought everyone used 60:40 (well 63:37 to be exact as that's the eutectic ratio). To get back on stained glass soldering, incidentally, I'd guess you probably want NON-eutectic solder so there is a "pasty" stage as it cools, allowing you to wipe/mould the joint. I haven't done much of that sort of thing, though, so could well be wrong (often am).
bourbon
Established Member
AES
Established Member
Only just seen this last post, sorry. At 325 Watts it certainly should be man enough for the sort of jobs the OP was talking about. I don't know much about current UK prices, but isn't it a bit steep at 40 odd quid?
And purely personal experience, I have tried an electric soldering iron nearly as big as that one which also had the "right angle bend" type of copper bit and couldn't get on with it very well. To me it just seemed rather awkward with the "pull" of the electrical flex at one end of the tool and the bit at a different angle at the other end. Purely a personal feeling and no doubt, with practice, I could have got used to it - but for me anyway, I prefer the bit to be a "straight forward" one (i.e. in line with the tool itself).
BTW, how's the OP getting on with his "steam age" soldering iron find?
AES
And purely personal experience, I have tried an electric soldering iron nearly as big as that one which also had the "right angle bend" type of copper bit and couldn't get on with it very well. To me it just seemed rather awkward with the "pull" of the electrical flex at one end of the tool and the bit at a different angle at the other end. Purely a personal feeling and no doubt, with practice, I could have got used to it - but for me anyway, I prefer the bit to be a "straight forward" one (i.e. in line with the tool itself).
BTW, how's the OP getting on with his "steam age" soldering iron find?
AES
