Newbie question.....

[182201]

Which end of the soldering iron is the handle?




joking of course.

I am a newbie and will admit it.

[AL]

Ouch !!!  :shock: Nice one. I've done that stunt too. Nuthin' to worry about it'll only leave a small scar that you can lie about to your grandkids. And here's a tip for you - If you have really long hair (like me) make sure you pull it back in a ponytail BEFORE you hunch over your bench and start soldering. If not you'll end up looking like Bruce Dickenson - which may or may not be a good thing.

AL

[Mark Hammer]

Been there.  Done that.  Bought the T-shirt.  Polished the car with it.

Answering the question you pose is relatively easy when you have lots of time.  I, myself lunged for the wrong end of my soldering iron earlier this year as it started to fall off my bench/desk.  As a psychologist, I can verify that speeded decisions generally have higher error rates. :wink:  As a human being, I can verify that those mistakes hurt...a lot. :cry:

[badperson]

I did that, except I had mine laying out on my desk and I brushed my hand across the tip. Glad I'm not the only one.

Good luck!

bp

[Samuel]

i once plunked my iron firmly back into the holder without realizing that as I did so the tip came shooting out the other end onto the floor.  Thankfully my area rug was flame retardant

[Hal]

i _just_ burned my fingertip on my iron  It turned a strange yellowish color  :evil: It was one of those "crap, i toutched my iron this is gunna hurt...OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" kinda things.  Apparently that reaction is your spine getting the message that you're hurt, before your brain can process it.  Thats what i learned at some point.

[Mark Hammer]

Probably the only good thing in all of this is that most of us probably reached for the iron with our picking hand, not our fret hand.  We may not be able to build for a while (or cop a feel), but at least we can strum.

[tcobretti]

A couple of times I've melted the calloused flesh on the tips of my fingers.  No real damage, but little grooves on my finger for a while.

[The Tone God]

OUCHY!!! Becareful man. I don't want to see that again you hear. This is yet more reason why I now advocate wearing gloves when soldering.

Another tip to soldering persons, if you get a burn go stick your hand in a cold solution of salt water. Just table salt in cold water will do. The cold will sooth your hand and the salt water will reduce the likelyness of a painful blister. Often all I get afterwards when doing this is a small painless patch of skin that is alot like a calluse.

Take care folks.

Andrew

[Sic]

ouch =/ i think we've all done that... i heard some bad bad stories hehe

[Marcos - Munky]

Well, I never burned my fingers, but I burned my nose!!! I was smelling the iron to see if it was working, and it was!!!

[182201]

OUCHY!!! Becareful man. I don't want to see that again you hear.

HEY I said I was joking!!! I stole that pic from google.


BUT........


Once I was buffing some metal and knocked my iron off the stand and I flipped out and jumped out of the way.  IT was cold!!!!  but I slammed my elbow on the desk trying to duck the pain.  

I have burnt myself a time or two but not in that pic! Once I heated a pot tab and knocked it on the table to remove the hot solder (40 watt gun) and it dripped on my leg in shorts!!!
-now THAT hurt!

[Paul Marossy]

Well, I never burned my fingers, but I burned my nose!!! I was smelling the iron to see if it was working, and it was!!!

I have the habit of sticking the iron close to my nose to see how hot it is when I first plug it in. I guess I need to be extra careful when doing that! I haven't picked up the iron by the wrong end, but I have brushed my fretting hand a couple of times while trying to desolder something. I generally worry more about my little girl trying to get the iron when it's hot. I guard it very carefully if I'm soldering while she is around. Solder blobs can hurt, too, but at least they solidify very quickly...