[Blindtlk] Soldering revisited

Sat Aug 13 05:49:11 UTC 2011

hi,

don't know if they are still in print.
radio shack had a series of about 10 thin small books with how tos and 
sample projects. one was called 555 timers.
unless you keep parts in orriginal packs and maybe label with a pen friend 
dot, i don't know how you could identify/read loose resistor and cap values 
without assistance.

Bryan Schulz

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 11:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Soldering revisited

> Not for employment, just to make my own toys more cheaply than I could buy 
> them.  *grin*
>
> Joseph - kf7qzc
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 08:39:46AM -0500, Steve Jacobson wrote:
>>Brian,
>>
>>I probably should not have said what I did, but it was your comment "i'm
>>guessing you are a hi-partial and not guessing where the doughnut gaps 
>>would be," that just struck me.  The purpose
>>of the tube that I described was not just to guide the solder, but to be 
>>used sort of like a cand to feel and locate the
>>joint being soldered after it is hot.  To avoid bridges, one really needs 
>>to use a fine solder, and this can be not rigid
>>enough to feel for a joint.  The idea is not to have the solder melt 
>>inside the tube but feed through the tube so that the
>>very end is melted by the heated joint.  I did see a soldering iron that 
>>fed the solder right to the tip but don't know if that
>>would be an alternative.
>>
>>I don't get the impression that Joe is trying to do this to gain 
>>employment.  Jobs that involve a lot of soldering are much
>>more scarce now than they were at one point.  I know that I could not 
>>compete for a job that required a lot of
>>soldering, so I'm not telling you that I could, but I think the scarcity 
>>of such jobs makes that poine pretty irrelevant
>>anyway.  I do believe that it is possible for a blind person who really 
>>wants to do it to do enough soldering to get
>>through a lab in a class, though, or to do certain repairs on their own. 
>>It is also worth pointing out that although vision
>>makes soldering easier, there are many sighted people who would not take 
>>up soldering.  I am also not claiming that I
>>know all there is about how a blind person could solder.  There are a lot 
>>of options now, though, different types of
>>irons and guns, for example, that provide possibilities that might help. 
>>There are no doubt blind people out there who
>>have tackled more complex soldering than have I, but maybe this discussion 
>>will give Joe and others some ideas of
>>things to try.
>>
>>Best regards,
>>
>>Steve Jacobson
>>
>>On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:45:44 -0500, Bryan Schulz wrote:
>>
>>>hi,
>>
>>>i did it about 20 years ago with sight. i never said it couldn't be done.
>>>from mo so show me a total blind person can solder pcb within a 
>>>reasonable
>>>time frame without bridges.
>>>the method mentioned with the solder inside a tube sounds like the
>>>desoldering gun i had with the squeeze bulb but in reverse.
>>
>>>Bryan Schulz
>>
>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
>>>To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>>>Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 10:39 PM
>>>Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Soldering revisited
>>
>>
>>>> Joe,
>>>>
>>>> I have done a little of this successfully and I know of others who have
>>>> done it.  First regarding the pounding solder flat
>>>> and wrapping it, that can work as you said, but you have to be careful 
>>>> to
>>>> get the wire hot enough to melt the solder.  If
>>>> the iron melts the solder but the wire has not gotten hot enough, you 
>>>> will
>>>> end up with a cold solder joint.  I have been
>>>> more a fan of placing the end of the solder on the joint and then 
>>>> applying
>>>> the iron until you feel and/or smell the solder
>>>> begin to melt.  If the method you used has worked, though, you are
>>>> apparently getting enough heat to the joint.
>>>>
>>>> Soldering always involves experimentation with different types of irons 
>>>> to
>>>> see what works best for you.  There are
>>>> some that actually use the conductor itself as the bridge between
>>>> connections thereby heating it.  For the kind of
>>>> soldering you are considering, you need a very fine tip.  Some blind
>>>> persons have fed solder down the inside of a
>>>> hollow metal tube.  The tube can be placed with the end on the desired
>>>> connection and is rigid enough to keep in
>>>> place.  The Smith-kettelwell Foundation published a series of articles 
>>>> on
>>>> soldering and made such tubes available.  It
>>>> was made of a metal that shed heat quickly.  I think that all of the
>>>> magazines have been archived, so you could
>>>> probably find the series on soldering.  Since those articles, there 
>>>> have
>>>> been some new irons, though.  Looking for
>>>> those articles might be worth it, though.
>>>>
>>>> Unlike Brian, I do not believe that because I am not good at something
>>>> nobody can be.  I have successfully
>>>> resoldered a DIP-style connector where a couple of the pins came loos 
>>>> from
>>>> the circuit board, and I did quite a bit of
>>>> soldering on larger items.  Experiment and see if you can find that old
>>>> series of articles on soldering.
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>>
>>>> Steve Jacobson
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:27:11 -0700, T. Joseph Carter wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>ThatG?Ts what I was called growing up, but I can tell you that IG?Tm
>>>>>certain it doesnG?Tt much matter in this case.  I canG?Tt see how I 
>>>>>could
>>>>>possibly do it under a CCTV, and anything short of that isnG?Tt going
>>>>>to give me enough magnification to do it visually.
>>>>
>>>>>If this is going to work for me at all, IG?Td be able to do it under
>>>>>sleepshade with a continuity tester to test connections.  ItG?Td be
>>>>>slow work to test that way, but IG?Tm probably going to have to do that
>>>>>kind of testing anyway.  Testing needs one mini-grabber clip on the
>>>>>component lead and a needle probe to make sure youG?Tve got a solid
>>>>>connection at the other end of the trace youG?Tre soldering it to.
>>>>
>>>>>Joseph - kf7qzc
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 02:45:13PM -0500, Bryan Schulz wrote:
>>>>>>hi,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>i haven't heard of this but it sounds like it would work. i'm
>>>>>>guessing you are a hi-partial and not guessing where the doughnut
>>>>>>gaps would be.
>>>>>>Bryan Schulz
>>>>>>
>>>>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "T. Joseph Carter"
>>>>>><carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
>>>>>>To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>>Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 2:39 PM
>>>>>>Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Soldering revisited
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I am considering that the solution might be some of the tools used
>>>>>>>to solder surface mount devices by hand.  Typically you have a
>>>>>>>board with a solder mask.  You apply solder paste, and it will be
>>>>>>>repelled by the solder mask.  Unless you use too much paste, the
>>>>>>>solder mask should resist solder bridges quite nicely.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Since the solder paste is applied cold, a syringe with a fine tip
>>>>>>>should be able to do the job.  Then a hot air pencil.  I donG?Tt have
>>>>>>>these things, but it should work.  If others have done it, IG?Td love
>>>>>>>to know.  If not, guess IG?Tm the trail blazer.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Joseph - kf7qzc
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 01:23:28PM -0500, Bryan Schulz wrote:
>>>>>>>>hi,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>if he has, that would be a neat trick as the pins on printed
>>>>>>>>circuit boards are about 3mm apart and a bridge anywhere causes a
>>>>>>>>failure.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Bryan Schulz
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Hyde, David W. (ESC)"
>>>>>>>><david.hyde at wcbvi.k12.wi.us>
>>>>>>>>To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>>>>Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 12:45 PM
>>>>>>>>Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Soldering revisited
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Joseph, get hold of Curtis Wilouby. If anyone does it, he has.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>>>>>>From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
>>>>>>>>>[mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of T. Joseph
>>>>>>>>>Carter
>>>>>>>>>Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 11:26 AM
>>>>>>>>>To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>>>>>>>>>Subject: [Blindtlk] Soldering revisited
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Hey everyone,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Once upon a time, we had a discussion on this list about
>>>>>>>>>soldering wires and the like.  A suggestion made was to take
>>>>>>>>>the solder, pound it flat with a hammer, and then wrap it
>>>>>>>>>around the wire/terminal being soldered. Then you need only
>>>>>>>>>heat the connection a few seconds so that the solder can melt
>>>>>>>>>and make a solid electrical connection.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>I can tell you that this technique works pretty well for
>>>>>>>>>stranded wire or stranded to solid wire (such as the leads of
>>>>>>>>>an LED for example), and could probably be done for two solid
>>>>>>>>>wires if you had sufficient success using third hand clips to
>>>>>>>>>hold the thing still long enough.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>But I want to be able to solder packages with pins on 0.1 inch
>>>>>>>>>centers. Transistors, old-fashioned DIPs, that kind of thing.
>>>>>>>>>I brought it up on nfb-hams, and nobodyG?Ts volunteered a
>>>>>>>>>brilliant strategy yet, so I figured IG?Td ask a wider audience.
>>>>>>>>>*smile*
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>IG?Tm sure it must be possible for a blind guy to do itG?"IG?Tm 
>>>>>>>>>just
>>>>>>>>>not sure how yet.  Advice welcome!
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Joseph - kf7qzc
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>>blindtlk mailing list
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>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>>>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>>>blindtlk at nfbnet.org
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>
>>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
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>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
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