Soldering with essential tremor
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From: David L. Jones on 19 Jan 2010 06:04 David L. Jones wrote: > electronman99 wrote: >> Dear scielectronicsbasics people, >> >> I am 65 and was recently diagnosed with essential tremor. It is not >> Parkinsons and is not a serious health threat. (Bill Clinton was >> diagnosed with it a few years ago). Basically it means that my hands >> shake a little bit. This shaking now makes soldering difficult. What >> would help me is to find a soldering iron with a short tip. I >> have a Weller 25 watt, but the tip is over 5 inches long, and, as a >> result, the end of the tip shakes quite a bit while I'm trying to >> solder. I have searched the Internet, but cannot seem to find an >> iron with a short tip. Does anyone know where I can purchase a >> soldering iron that has a short tip? Thanks. electronman99 > > The Metcal ones are pretty short'n'stumpy. > http://metcal.com/products/ This iron in particular looks like it may come with their base level station?, if not available seperately: http://www.oki-usa.com/mx-h1-av.aspx Even comes with three different grips. Doesn't look like much longer than about 1" on the tip? I've used an older style Metcal with such a short stubby tip, it really does help with the handling and any hand shake. Dave. -- --------------------------------------------- Check out my Electronics Engineering Video Blog & Podcast: http://www.eevblog.com
From: Robert Roland on 19 Jan 2010 15:14 On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:58:11 -0800 (PST), electronman99 <electronman99(a)gmail.com> wrote: >This shaking now makes soldering difficult. What >would help me is to find a soldering iron with a short tip. I have thought about the same thing a few times when working with really small stuff. Would it be possible to make some sort of sleeve that goes around (but not touching) the heating element, so that you can grip near the soldering tip? It would have to be well insulated to protect your fingers, and it would also need to provide adequate ventilation between the element and the sleeve, so that the iron does not overheat (unless your iron is temperature controlled). -- RoRo
From: Charles on 19 Jan 2010 17:47 "John Fields" <jfields(a)austininstruments.com> wrote in message news:tiv9l51ohjcebpp4dhs6dflthn88l6lvng(a)4ax.com... > On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:58:11 -0800 (PST), electronman99 > <electronman99(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >>Dear scielectronicsbasics people, >> >>I am 65 and was recently diagnosed with essential tremor. It is not >>Parkinsons and is not a serious health threat. (Bill Clinton was >>diagnosed with it a few years ago). Basically it means that my hands >>shake a little bit. This shaking now makes soldering difficult. > > --- > A couple shots of Wild Turkey steadies mine right up... ;) Actually, that works for many. Also, no caffeine helps and keeping your blood sugar at a reasonable level also can help.
From: default on 19 Jan 2010 18:33 On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:58:11 -0800 (PST), electronman99 <electronman99(a)gmail.com> wrote: >Dear scielectronicsbasics people, > >I am 65 and was recently diagnosed with essential tremor. It is not >Parkinsons and is not a serious health threat. (Bill Clinton was >diagnosed with it a few years ago). Basically it means that my hands >shake a little bit. This shaking now makes soldering difficult. What >would help me is to find a soldering iron with a short tip. I have a >Weller 25 watt, but the tip is over 5 inches long, and, as a result, >the end of the tip shakes quite a bit while I'm trying to solder. I >have searched the Internet, but cannot seem to find an iron with a >short tip. Does anyone know where I can purchase a soldering iron >that has a short tip? Thanks. electronman99 I hear you. I think we need a "waldo" thingee - massive robotic hands that translate the surgeons finger movements into steady sure output. --
From: John Larkin on 19 Jan 2010 21:05
On Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:33:43 -0500, default <default(a)defaulter.net> wrote: >On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:58:11 -0800 (PST), electronman99 ><electronman99(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >>Dear scielectronicsbasics people, >> >>I am 65 and was recently diagnosed with essential tremor. It is not >>Parkinsons and is not a serious health threat. (Bill Clinton was >>diagnosed with it a few years ago). Basically it means that my hands >>shake a little bit. This shaking now makes soldering difficult. What >>would help me is to find a soldering iron with a short tip. I have a >>Weller 25 watt, but the tip is over 5 inches long, and, as a result, >>the end of the tip shakes quite a bit while I'm trying to solder. I >>have searched the Internet, but cannot seem to find an iron with a >>short tip. Does anyone know where I can purchase a soldering iron >>that has a short tip? Thanks. electronman99 > >I hear you. > >I think we need a "waldo" thingee - massive robotic hands that >translate the surgeons finger movements into steady sure output. I want a stick-on suction-cup pantographic thing that I can stick on fine-pitch ICs and land tiny probes on the pins or nearby parts. John |