soldering iron saga, continued
still having trouble with the soldering iron. I have gone back and forth with the manufactureer of my iron, Hakko, and I think i have gotten the problem ironed out (pun intended), lol.
I never took chemistry in HS so I might be a bit fuzzy on the details, but… it seems to be oxidation. And there is a high probability that my flux is crap. the flux is crazy old, so not shocking that it might be contaminated or no longer effective. I have no idea if flux has a shelf life. All the articles I have read suggest that you “try several and find which one works best for you”. I LOVE this piece of advice because it seems to be helpful when in fact, it says absolutely nothing!
apparently Lead-free solder is all the rage. All PC and stuff. Whatever. I use the leaded stuff. Lead- free seems to be a pain in the butt. I might have a completely differrent attitude when I am 75 and I cannot remember my name form all the lead I ihaled or was absorbed through my skin… but that is 30 yrs from now and I’ll deal with it then. or not, as the case may be. I use a respirator rated for lead, and I use gloves when I handle the lead.
OK, just wanted to post that, and a cool link I found. Didn’t read all of it, but will later. Gotta get in the shower and go to work, be a responsible adult…
and thanks, Daniel, for linking to my blog. I’ll link to yours int he next post. That way we can pat each other on the back =)
love affair with stained glass 
I never cared for lead free solder. I use it when making baby room stuff or gifts where i think handing over a hunk a lead is probably a bad idea. Overall it’s just o.k. It doesn’t flow or bead quite the same. Maybe it’s changed since the last time I used it, but I doubt it.