Do you own a soldering iron? If you do, it must be evident by now how useful this tool is when carrying out soldering tasks. The best part about a soldering iron is that you can still make one if you’re on a budget. While this might sound to be very complicated and best left out for the professionals, it actually isn’t.
- Steps To Making A Soldering Iron Wire
- Step 1: Assemble All Appropriate Parts and Tools
- Step 2: Open Dryer To Get Parts
- Step 3: Prepare the Mount or Handle For Copper
- Step 4: Assemble The Base
- Step 5: Connecting Wires To Battery Box
- Step 6: Set Up The Copper Wire
- Step 7: Connect The Nichrome Wire To A Battery Box
- Step 8: Do The Final Touches
- Step 9: Ready To Use
- Conclusion
If you’re still having doubts about how true this statement is, don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, you’ll be taken through the steps of making a soldering iron wire. With this being one of the most critical components in your soldering iron, knowing how to make it will draw you one step closer to learning how to make this handy tool.
Steps To Making A Soldering Iron Wire
If you want to make a functional soldering iron, there are several steps you need to follow when making the soldering iron wire. These steps include;
Step 1: Assemble All Appropriate Parts and Tools
You’ll need various indispensable tools and materials when making a soldering iron. The tools required during the process include:
- Hot glue gun
- Electrical tape
- Scissors that are used for the electrical tape
- Wire strippers
- Screwdriver to cut a hole into the wood without necessitating drilling
- A sharp tool or wire cutters for cutting the copper wire
Once you’ve assembled all the appropriate tools, proceed to get all the needed materials. These include:
- RC battery box
- 18-gauge wires
- Three blocks of wood
- AA batteries
- 18-gauge black/red connector wires
- 8-gauge bare copper wire
- Hairdryer
With all these tools and materials in place, you’re now ready to start making your soldering iron.
Step 2: Open Dryer To Get Parts
Get the hairdryer and try to take out the items needed for making a soldering iron wire. The steps to follow when doing this are;
- Open your hairdryer, and inside you’ll see wires and coils.
- Cut the wires and take out a few of the covers as well as the coils.
- After doing this, leave everything else intact as it won’t be needed anymore.
Step 3: Prepare the Mount or Handle For Copper
You should now prepare the area where the soldering iron will be positioned. When doing this, you should take one block of wood and consequently make a hole on its top side, which should be the smallest end. The size of this hole one inch into this wooden block that should ideally be around the copper wire’s diameter, which is around 1/8 inches.
After doing this, you should chop the copper wire to have a length of about 1.5 inches. Subsequently, take the bare copper wire and push it inside this hole and ensure it’s securely in position.
Step 4: Assemble The Base
Once you’re through mounting the would be soldering iron wire onto its handle, the next step is assembling the base. When doing this, you should use three blocks of wood.
You should take two of the wooden blocks and connect them using hot glue added on its long side. Consequently, follow this up by fixing the final block of wood to the copper wire on its short side and on the top using hot glue.
Step 5: Connecting Wires To Battery Box
With the copper wire now in an ideal position, it’s time to power it, thereby allowing you to carry out your soldering tasks. When doing this, you need to make use of an RC car battery box.
Once you find it, try to locate the positive and negative which are suitable for connection. Subsequently, follow this up by connecting the black and red wires to the right ends.
While doing this, confirm the wire is positioned great inside to deliver an excellent connection. After making sure of that, you should proceed to cover the outer part of the electrical tape to fasten and hold it firmly in position.
Step 6: Set Up The Copper Wire
With the wires now connected perfectly well, it’s now time to set up the copper wire. When doing, you should first start by taking the shielding cover and cutting off an adequate quantity that covers the wire. As you do this, make sure to leave the end exposed.
You should then slide this cover through the entire distance of the copper rod. After doing this, use around five inches of nichrome wire, which you have removed before, and cover it around the shielding cover.
While doing this, make sure that an adequate amount of the nichrome wire sticks out on either side before covering the other wires. It’s advisable to ensure the coil is tightly held in position against the cover as you’re shielding it.
Step 7: Connect The Nichrome Wire To A Battery Box
The next step is connecting the battery box to the nichrome wire. You should connect one of the nichrome wire’s end to the red wire and the other end of the nichrome wire to the black wire. If there’s no switch on your battery box, it’s at this point that you should fix one. When making all these connections, make sure to cover tightly for the circuit to be complete.
Step 8: Do The Final Touches
This is one of the last steps you should take when making the soldering iron wire. It involves using hot glue to position the battery box to the base’s two-block sections. Once you’re done, use electrical tape to cover the two wires and fasten them together to form one block section of the base.
Step 9: Ready To Use
Now all that’s left is adding batteries, and you’ll be ready to use your soldering iron. After switching on this tool, you should give it enough time for the soldering iron wire to heat up, thereby have enough heat to melt solder.
Conclusion
The soldering iron wire is among the most crucial parts of your soldering iron. Knowing how to make one if you’re into DIY projects to do during your pastime is essential. This is something that need’s not be an issue anymore in the future thanks to the useful tips discussed above on how to make a soldering iron wire.
