Taking up a new hobby

[hydrargyrum]

Recently I have been considering trying my hand at building a pedal, and I finally bit the bullet this weekend and purchased a kit from the Build Your Own Clone website.  I am really looking forward to it, although I must admit that my electronics experience consists solely of a few college level physics labs.  I purchased the envelope filter/fixed wah kit (http://www.buildyourownclone.com/filter440.html), and now I find myself looking for some good resources for basic electronics work (soldering especially).  Anyone have any suggestions or experience with this sort of thing?

[David Houck]

Looks cool!

[811952]

Spend the money on a good soldering iron with temperature control.  It will make a difference.
 
John

[glocke]

should have checked with me first...I have about a half dozen hobbies I could pass onto you since I dont have time for them anymore.....(j/k)
 
good luck

[lbpesq]

Get a soldering iron and practice on something other than your kit so you can get the hang of it.  Remember to heat the connection so the solder flows when touched to the connection.  Don't just heat up the solder directly on the iron.  Using a heat sink is also a good idea.  It's really not that difficult.  I put together a Heathkit guitar amp when I was 13.  Over the years I've built a few pedals from Craig Anderton's  Electronic Projects for Musicians.  It ain't rocket science.  Go for it and enjoy.  By the way, cool site.  I'm definitely going to have to check it out more when I have the time.
 
Bill, tgo

[matthew90046]

1) Like John said get a good iron like a Weller.  I have used a Weller WLC100 for years and it has served me well.
 
2) Get a soldering vise to hold onto wire and such.  Much of soldering requires three hands.
 
3) Tin your work.  Just like painting you do not paint without primer.  Any wire should be placed in a vice and have a little solder melted into the end before you make any connections.  This will make a strong connection when you do the actual connection.  Skipping this step could create a bond that will fail.
 
4) Keep the solder iron clean.  You will see that many irons have a sponge on the base.  You wet the sponge and wipe the hot iron tip to keep it clean.  When clean the tip of the iron will be like chrome and melt the solder immediately. If the tip gets funky it will turn black and not melt the solder.  (You can also get tip cleaner)
 
5) Work fast... That is, do not let the iron hold on the parts for long because the heat can destroy some of the parts.  
 
If you master the skill of soldering you can also consider making your own custom cables.
 
matt
 
(Message edited by matthew90046 on September 08, 2008)

[cozmik_cowboy]

What everyone else said, plus get a pair of hemostats. In my professional roadie days I always wore a pair on my beltloop - they have about 1,000,000 uses (999,999 of them legal), and one of the main ones is holding wires while you solder them.  I prefer the angled ones; they don't bump your chin - er, I mean you don't have to contort your wrist to get the wire into place.
 
Peter

[hydrargyrum]

Thanks for the advice guys.
 
I used to have some Hemostats Peter, but I think I through them out when I got out of college.  I might have to try those other 999,999 uses for them now.

[hydrargyrum]

I was about to place an order for the Weller iron, but thought I would try to purchase some solder at the same time to save on shipping.  I found this solder on Amazon, and was wondering if anyone could tell me if this would be suitable, or if I should look for something else.  It is a 60/40 Tin/Lead Rosin core solder.  Thanks again for the advice.
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00030AP48/ref=pd_luc_hashrec_03_03

[matthew90046]

I have some of that for big jobs, but I like to use a thin solder (.04 DIA) for delicate jobs like circuit boards.  I also use a fine tip on my iron to hit those hard to reach spots.   ;-)
 
Another item you should get is a solder popper.  If you make a mistake this little suction device will suck the work off and you can try again.  You will need this.
 
cheers
 
matt

[keurosix]

Hey Kevin,
So far really good advice to follow. I can add this: use a minimum of solder, only enough to coat the joint and flow without bulging. Once it's coated, take off the heat, and let it cool without moving. Any more fussing will make for a weak joint and can damage components and even the traces on the PC board. You don't need a lot of heat for fine work, but the adjustable solder irons are best for getting the right setting. The solder popper is a good tool. They also make a copper braid that comes on a spool (think solder floss!), and can wisk away solder leaving a nice tinned surface. And most important: Don't breathe the smoke! It contains lead which can lead to dame bramage! See? Use a small desk fan to blow it away. Go to Radio Shack or any consumer electronics store to get some kind of project kit or supplies to practice on first. It won't take long to be able to solder really good!
Looks like fun!
Kris

[bracheen]

Good idea on the hemostats Peter.  I always use tweezers with a piece of wire wrapped around the base that I could slide up to hold the ,um, solder

[hydrargyrum]

Thanks guys, this is all very much appreciated.

[hydrargyrum]

Thanks to all who made suggestions.  I believe I now have all the proper equipment on its way to me to build any number of kits.  I was kind of at a loss regarding how I could practice soldering effectively, when I came across these two kits on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002LUALG/ref=pe_606_10356960_pe_ar_d5
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002LUAL6/ref=pe_606_10356960_pe_ar_d6
 
Hopefully they'll give me some practice so I don't destroy my filter. In the meantime I think I'll try to come up with a super psychedelic paintjob for the housing.  If anyone is interested I'll post photos when it is completed.

[David Houck]

When I was perusing the Build Your Own site, I noticed that the kits ship with a practice circuit.