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CQ REVIEWS: The Solder-It Soldering Kit BY LEW McCOY*, W1ICP*Technical Editor, CQ, 200 Idaho St., Silver City, NM 88061 There are times when a product comes along that I feel will be of special interest to our readers. The Solder-lt kit is just such an item. Over the years I have written several articles on soldering. I have seen numerous methods marketed that claimed to solder dissimilar metals, and none of these methods were really successful from my observations. At Dayton last year, however, Fred Doob, AA8FQ, displayed a soldering kit that was truly amazing. In fact, amateurs were lined up to see and buy his product. I approached Fred with the possibility of doing a product review for CQ, and he gave me a complete demonstration. I really felt this was something in which a lot of operators would be interested. Fred has been a representative selling products for the automobile industry. One automotive company had a very experienced metallurgist who came up with a soldering paste and material that had better bonding charateristics than normal solder and worked at lower temperatures. Fred saw the possibilities of this paste and solder for radio amateurs, so he put together a kit containing the necessary materials. Also, he designed a very small butane torch that can be used with a soldering tip or simply as a torch. The torch is refillable from one of the commonly available small butane bottles for cigarette lighters. What will the Solder-lt kit do? Simply put a slight coating of the solder paste on the materials to be soldered. Then apply the torch flame so that the paste melts. Next apply the flame tip so the solder flows along the desired area. There are four different tubes of paste provided: silver paste, copper paste, aluminum paste, and last, pot metal paste (that's right, pot metal paste). Some technical points need to be included here.The aluminum solder paste will solder aluminum to other metals such as copper. It has a low melting point (395 degrees), and the resulting connection has a tensile strength of 28,000 PSI ! In fact, small solderlng jobs can be done with a match or lighter because of the low-temperature paste points. One problem with many antennas is that the manufacturers use self-tapping screws to hold elements together. These screws tend to become loose, creating noise problems Not so with the Solder-lt kit. Simply solder the screw in place. It's easy and quick and will hold as long as the element lasts. One of my hobbies is making turquoise jewelry, and silver soldering is always a touchy proposition. Not so with the Solder-lt klt. You can solder at a point to hold a piece in place, then form the metal, and move along, soldering as you go. Coax fittings become very easy and simple to solder. Frankly, as you can tell, I was extremely impressed with the kit. I don't expect it would eliminate normal circuit-board work, but for tough soldering chores it's the answer. The Solder-lt kit comes complete with the pastes mentioned above, plus the torch and a soldering tip. Price of the kit is $59.00. For more information write to Solder-lt Co., Fred Doob, AA8FQ P.O. Box 20100, Cleveland, OH 44120 (telephone 216 791-4600).
Click here to read the product review from QST Magazine Click here to read the product review from Nuts & Volts Magazine Click here to go back to Solder-It Top |
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