2021 ᐈ

Stand accessories and tools

If you have plans to make a soldering iron holder with your own hands, then you need to find the necessary tools and things that will help you realize your plans. The main items you may need for this include:

A metal sheet;
Wooden board;
Screwdriver;
Wire;
Metal can;
Screwdriver;
Electric drill;
Screws with nuts or self-tapping screws.

Depending on what kind of do-it-yourself soldering iron stand you will make, you may need a different set of tools and parts. But most people choose these options because they are the most convenient.

Wire soldering iron stand

Making a wire stand for a soldering iron with your own hands begins by straightening the wire itself.

To get started you need:

Cut a piece of wire 0.3 meters long;
Clamp one end of the wire with pliers, and then wrap the remaining length around the tool several times;
With the other end you need to do the same procedures;
Stretch the wire from this position in different directions with two pliers
Next you need to start making the stand. The straight wire must be divided into several parts. It is worth making a rectangle out of it, for example, with sides of 5 and 10 cm. It is advisable to solder this structure so that it retains its shape. At the same time, you need to solder the top part. To do this you will need a few more pieces of wire. Thus, on one of the sides of the resulting rectangle there will be another “U”-shaped structure soldered to its ends. The upper part of the structure can be bent to the bottom so that the soldering iron does not roll off it.
On the other side of the base rectangle, a similar “U”-shaped structure of the same or a different size should be made. With the same values, a homemade soldering iron stand will hold the soldering iron in a vertical position. Otherwise it will be tilted. The upper parts of the towering forms must be soldered together for stability. Then you need to check the structure for strength by installing a tool on it. If everything is fine, then the do-it-yourself soldering iron stand made of wire is ready.

Ignition and warming up

To light the lamp, you need to pour a small amount of gasoline into the metal cup provided by the design at the bottom of the burner.

It is ignited with matches or a lighter and, when burned, heats the “jacket” of the burner, inside which the fuel will subsequently be heated.

As the gasoline burns in the cup, you need to slowly open the control valve, pointing the burner at a brick wall or a sheet of fireproof material to speed up the heating of the burner.

The tap must be opened extremely carefully, because fuel that is not heated to the required temperature will splash out and ignite. It is necessary that it falls into the cup.

When the blowtorch burner warms up and the fuel from the nozzle begins to burn with a steady flame, you need to use the pump to increase the pressure in the tank. When working with a blowtorch, you need to make sure that the body does not turn over, otherwise fuel will not flow into the burner.

Soldering iron stand made from fuses

A do-it-yourself soldering iron stand using improvised materials is the simplest and cheapest way to get the desired design. To create a stand from fuses you need:

Textolite, or as its replacement - a wooden block;
Circuit breakers.

The block is prepared as a base, so its surface must be flat for greater stability. After preparing the base, the fuse jaws are installed on the product. The distance between them is selected individually according to the size of the soldering iron. They can be secured using self-tapping screws, since there is always a hole on the sponge where they can be located.

How to make a complex stand?

A do-it-yourself soldering iron stand made of wood and other extremely simple varieties often turn out to be of little functionality. For those who are constantly engaged in soldering, more complex options may be required, in which additional devices will be placed, and the holder itself will also look more serious.

First comes the manufacture of the base of the stand, which is best made from a wooden block or board.

A width of up to 10 cm is quite sufficient; sometimes you can get by with smaller sizes. The length can be 15-20 cm, but this will depend on the size of the soldering iron used. "Important! The main criterion here is the stability of the surface, therefore, the wider it is, the more stable the position of the soldering iron will become.”
To create supporting elements, two metal strips are cut out. They need to be bent so that they create a frame, the upper part of which will contain a deflection for placing a soldering iron on them. The dimensions of such arms and their location are selected according to the size of the soldering iron. To attach the arms, you need to make holes in them and then secure them with self-tapping screws.
This is the main part, but to complement it, you can place a jar of rosin in the free space. To do this, it is enough to drill a hole in the prepared container and fix the jar through it to the stand with a self-tapping screw.
One of the most difficult options may seem to be a do-it-yourself soldering iron stand with a power regulator. This is relevant in cases where a complex product will also serve as a power source, along with an extension cord. Then it is reasonable to first allocate a place for mounting the power regulator. They can be found in specialized stores with various required parameters. A socket is connected to the wooden base, from which a plug is connected to a wire of the required length to connect to the network. The socket housing can also be purchased from relevant stores. After this, the prepared regulator is attached to the board.

Device and principle of operation

A blowtorch consists of a fuel reservoir, a pump and a burner. The tank stores liquid hydrocarbon fuel. It could be gasoline, kerosene, alcohol.

Gasoline is most often used as the most accessible and cheapest type of fuel. A hermetically sealed filler neck is provided for filling with fuel.

The pump serves to create air pressure in the tank. It is under its influence that the fuel enters the burner, in which combustion occurs, releasing a large amount of heat.

The burner has a rather complex design. The fuel, before reaching the nozzle, passes through a small reservoir that encircles the flame in a ring. At this time, it is heated up so that at the exit from the nozzle it passes into a state close to vapor.

The size of the flame depends on the amount of fuel entering the nozzle and is regulated by a special tap with a needle that closes the outlet. Fuel consumption also depends on the size of the flame.

Manufacturing options

There are several options for stands - depending on the specific requirements for soldering functionality, choose any one.

Regular

First, prepare a wooden board - the base of the stand.
Select a piece of board - for example, 25*12 cm.

Mark the points on the board according to the drawing and drill holes in these places. The diameter of the holes should be slightly smaller than the cross-sectional diameter of the wire - it should fit into them with great effort.
Cut the required piece from a coil of steel wire and mark it with a marker. Bend it along these points, as shown in the drawing. You will get an M-shaped frame - its dimensions can be, for example, as follows: two sidewalls of 5 cm each and two sides (slopes) of 3 cm each. There should be two such frames.
Press the ends of the frames into these holes.

The simplest homemade soldering iron stand is ready. If desired, it can be modified as follows.

If rosin and solder are sold in ready-made industrial cylindrical capsules, then drill a hole using a core drill of a slightly smaller diameter than the capsule itself. It may not be through.

Press the capsule itself into this hole. Before inserting it, this container can be coated with glue - for example, universal “Moment-1”, then it will not fall out over time. There can be 3 of these capsules: for rosin, solder and flux. It is advisable to choose a glass container for soldering flux.

To prevent the hand-made stand from scratching the varnished surface of the table, legs are attached to it.

Do the following.

Cut four identical circles with a diameter of no more than 1 centimeter from a piece of thick (from 3 mm) rubber. Here, rubber from old car inner tubes can be used as a consumable material.
Using an emery block, a sharpening stone, or a grinding machine, sand the rubber on one side and the base underneath where these circles are installed.
Apply a layer of the same Moment-1 glue to the stand and to the circles themselves. After a few minutes, use a vice or clamp to firmly press them to the piece of wood where they are glued. Compression is also carried out by pressing with your hand on the stand installed on these mugs, and any horizontal surface that can withstand the force applied to the stand serves as a support.
After a day, the glue will completely dry and harden, and the stand can be used.
Stands of increased sizes are used for powerful soldering irons of 100 watts or more, as well as for blowtorches running on gas.

How to use

Before we talk about how to use it, we need to remember where a blowtorch is generally used. Among the areas of application are the following:

soldering metal parts using molten solder;
heating the elements to be joined by welding;
heating pipes with frozen liquid in the event of malfunctions and accidents on pipelines;
removal of old paint and varnish coatings from metal and sometimes wooden structures;
heating rusted joints to facilitate their disassembly;
heating and cooking food on the go;
Use a blowtorch with extreme caution to warm up internal combustion engines before starting them in very cold weather.

In almost all cases, the lamp must be used the same way. It is filled with flammable liquid and ignited. The differences relate to the amount of time the flame is exposed to, the adjustment of its intensity and how to properly direct it.

Casket

The box design is the most compact and easy to carry. It is made from any wooden or metal box shaped like a parallelepiped. The soldering folding box is a pencil case with several compartments in which capsules with flux and rosin and a roll of solder are stored.

Fixation of such a pencil case in the closed state is carried out using M-shaped wire inserts. If the pencil case is large enough in size - for example, 25 * 12 * 5 cm, then the soldering iron itself will fit into it. The volume of such a box is enough to, in addition to soldering consumables, accommodate the soldering iron itself, its power cord and plug when folded.

If you don’t find such a stand on sale, you can make it yourself from wood. Natural wood or plywood with a thickness of no more than 1 cm is suitable as a consumable material.
Mark and cut a sheet of wood for the parts of the future soldering case.
Connect them using furniture corner screws made from wood glue. You will get a soldering box with sections.
Cut another piece of wood or plywood the size of the bottom wall of the pencil case. Attach it to 2 small furniture hinges. You will get a lockable box.
At the ends of the pencil case, closer to the bottom, drill holes for wire inserts that serve as supports for the soldering iron when the pencil case is open.
Make these inserts according to the above diagram and install them in the place intended for them.
Installation of the inserts is carried out the next day - when the glue dries and hardens. The pencil stand is ready for use.

Drawings and models

I haven’t sat down to draw for fifteen years, so if something is not clear in the drawings, please let me know in the comments.
Base (foil plate 12 mm):

Plate for the soldering iron handle (12 mm plate):

Soldering iron plate fastening plates (2 mm sheet), two identical pieces:

Blade holders (square rod 10x10 mm), three identical pieces:

Sources of all drawings and 3D models of printed parts are available in this project.

With diode

The purpose of the diode is to reduce the supply voltage by one and a half to two times. This significantly saves the life of the soldering iron.

The fact is that periodically there are significant interruptions in work when the soldering iron is not actively used. In order not to keep it constantly turned on at full power, and also to eliminate the loss of time for its complete, “from scratch”, warming up when it is needed again, a diode - or a step-down regulator - is simply necessary.

Long-term operation of the soldering iron at a temperature significantly lower than 300-odd degrees prevents the nichrome wire from which the active (heating) element is wound from burning out prematurely. Periodic overheating of the soldering iron can also cause the layer of mica to crumble, transmitting heat from the heated spiral of the steel structure to which the copper tip is rigidly connected.

To build a heat control circuit into the stand, do the following:

Install on the stand a small-sized switch, pre-built into a small rectangular housing. In parallel, a high-voltage diode should be connected to it, designed for industrial mains voltage up to 300-400 volts. This refers to the reverse voltage that a given diode can withstand. The current strength (we are talking about direct current) must be at least 200 milliamps. All these characteristics are indicated in the description of the specific diode.
Connect an additional power cord to the stand - it is the one that is connected to the 220 volt lighting network. Connect a switch with a diode into its gap.
Mount a compact, small-sized socket at the output of the stand. Connect it to a switch with a diode.

Reliably insulate all live contacts. The stand with diode is ready for use.

For cooking food

A blowtorch can be used to heat or cook food.
To do this, the flame must burn from the bottom of the vessel in which the cooking takes place. Sometimes, of course, you can heat up and even boil water by simply directing the flame from the side onto the wall of the kettle, but this will clearly not be enough to make at least some worthwhile dish.

To use a cooking tool on the go, you will need a blowtorch hook. A simple device will allow you to deflect the flame upward without changing the position of the body.

Making a taganka is not difficult. You will need a sheet of iron that is the size of the dish that will be heated.

The sequence of work is as follows:

From the sheet you need to cut a circle with a hole of a smaller diameter in the center. This will be a stand for a pot, kettle or other camp utensils.
To ensure that the stand is higher than the flame level, a tripod is required. You can also make it yourself by using metal rods that need to be specially bent and welded to the stand.
A steel bend (also called an elbow) from a pipe with a diameter larger than the size of the burner must be welded into the hole in the stand. This outlet will deflect the flame of the blowtorch and direct it to the stand.

Using a Taganka is quite convenient; it is used at dachas, in camping conditions, in places where there is no electricity and there is no stove.

PCB holder

The simplest version of the holder is a pair of electrical installation “crocodiles”. They are positioned so that they are turned in one direction. They are installed on supports made of linear sections of the same wire from which the inserts holding the soldering iron are made. There is also a more advanced device with brackets and guides that allows you to hold printed circuit boards prepared for soldering more firmly and reliably. The PCB retainer can be installed anywhere on the stand.

General requirements for materials and design

You can make a high-quality stand with your own hands, used for soldering various products and metal parts, from any available means that meet the following requirements:

reliability and stability of the foundation;
fire resistance of the material of the support posts;
availability of space for containers with rosin and solder.

The simplicity of the device in question does not mean at all that you can use low-quality parts to assemble it and treat it as something not particularly important.

On the contrary, to make a stand for a soldering iron you will need durable and reliable materials suitable for working at high temperatures, as well as accurate calculation of the dimensions of the base with holders and containers placed on it.

Jars of rosin and solder attached to the base must be placed in an order corresponding to the sequence of operations performed during soldering and not interfere with the work with the soldering iron.
Some craftsmen place soldering irons along with a power regulator on such stands, which significantly complicates the design of the entire device as a whole.
Unlike small-sized factory samples, self-made stands must have dimensions sufficient to accommodate all the elements listed above.
Sometimes such devices are equipped with a special holder for a soldering iron (the so-called “third” hand), which allows you to fix the workpieces or parts being processed. One of the simplest product options is a crocodile-type holder.

Simple version

To assemble a simple, convenient stand with a minimum of parts yourself, you may need the following consumables:

a wooden flat piece made of beech or oak measuring approximately 25 by 12 cm, necessary for making the base of the soldering iron stand;
duralumin plates no more than 1.5 mm thick;
miniature metal containers (brass cups from an old-style telephone call can be used to make them).

After all this material has been prepared, you can proceed to assembling the stand for the soldering iron itself, starting with preparing the seats for containers with rosin and solder.

In the case of using brass cups from a ringing device (bell), they are simply screwed to a wooden platform in a pre-designated location.

After this, triangular or oval shaped supporting elements are made from a duralumin plate (the distance between them is selected according to the length of the soldering iron).

The supports formed in this way are attached to the base of the stand using self-tapping screws or large screws.

If necessary, the height of the supports for placing a soldering iron can be increased by lengthening them using short metal stands with threads at the ends.

All prepared parts should be carefully processed with a file, and then their surfaces should be cleaned with sandpaper, which will smooth out sharp edges and remove dangerous burrs.

Soldering iron stand - what is it for?

A high-quality part is necessary for those people who do a lot of work with soldering. To make such a device as a soldering iron stand, no special skills or abilities are required. The process uses simple and accessible materials and tools. The finished device is easy to use. A homemade soldering iron stand should consist of separate elements. First of all, special containers are provided for rosin, flux and a department for mixing them. Some models are equipped with a box where small parts are stored. The soldering iron stand is suitable for any device, regardless of its power and degree of heating.

When making the structure, the location of these containers should be taken into account. Everything should be located so that it is convenient for the master to solder.

Stand with “third hand” device

This design allows you to work with the soldering iron as comfortably as possible, without wasting effort on holding the soldering iron and the two parts being connected at the same time. It is quite deservedly called the “third hand”.

To make it you will need the following available materials and accessories:

two glasses from decorative candles;
a leg from an old table lamp or small lamp;
two alligator clips;
a magnifying glass that will make it much more convenient to work with small details;
a spring retainer, which you can make yourself from ordinary steel wire;
wooden base.

The first step is to prepare the basis for the future stand. To do this, we mill three niches in it. The first two will be used to install candle cups, and the third will be used for a cleaning cloth that removes solder from the soldering iron.

After this, all work is performed in the following sequence:

We mount the cups in the prepared niches.
We mount alligator clips onto the flexible lamp rod. It is better to make the distance between them adjustable.
We install the spiral soldering iron holder in one of the corners of the base.
We drill holes and screw the rod with clamps to the wooden stand.
If desired, you can attach a magnifying glass to the top of the “third hand”. Also very often it is made removable or installed on a separate rod.
This stand does not require significant financial investments, but makes working with a soldering iron easier.

From scrap material

By using materials that are available in the house, you can save the costs required to make the stand.

To build a convenient structure you will need to prepare:

coarse sandpaper;
hacksaw for metal;
Phillips screwdriver (you can use a screwdriver);
thin screwdriver;
iron plate;
a spring that can be removed from the pen;
a tin covering the board (can be removed from a broken receiver);
metal retainer from the antenna;
self-tapping screws 20 mm - 4 pcs.;
bolts - 4 pcs.;
Thin-sheet chipboard (up to 18 mm).

Also during the work, in addition to improvised means, you will need pliers and 2 rubber stoppers from chemical test tubes.

For reference! On Avito or Yula you can find craftsmen who make interesting and unusual stands for soldering irons. Such products look almost like works of art.

Step by step guide:

The cut chipboard sheet is sanded, giving it a rounded shape.
Rubber plugs are sawn straight. To achieve uniform thickness, you should use sandpaper.
1 self-tapping screw is screwed into each rubber leg.
Holes are made in the structure and legs with screws are screwed in.
The iron plate is bent, giving the outline of a hook.
Using a screwdriver, holes are made for a pair of bolts intended to secure the hook.
The final stage of making a stand from scrap material will be tightening the bolts and checking how well the hook holds.

Preparing for ignition

You need to start using a blowtorch by checking its serviceability and functionality.

During inspection, make sure that all threaded connections on the filler neck and pump are clean and functioning well, while ensuring the tightness of the internal volume of the fuel tank.

The condition of the rubber gaskets also affects the tightness. It is also necessary to pay attention to the ease of rotation of the adjusting screw. It is prohibited to use a faulty blowtorch, as fuel vapors escaping from the tank may ignite.

The housing must be clean and not oily. It is not recommended to use dirty tools, as some oils can also ignite when heated.

To refill the blowtorch without spilling gasoline, you must use a funnel of the appropriate size. The reservoir is filled no more than three quarters so that air remains inside, which will be compressed by the pump, creating pressure.

It is necessary to use only clean fuel without impurities and with a minimum amount of additives.

The adjusting screw is closed before filling. Next, create a slight pressure in the tank by pumping 10-15 times. Now you can use the blowtorch!

Soldering iron stand with power regulator

This type of design is equipped with a device that independently adjusts the heating level of the hand tool. This prevents overheating of the device and extends its service life.

In the process of making the stand, the home craftsman will use:

copper wires;
a piece of plywood;
elements for fixation;
tin boxes;
rubber feet;
socket.

You will also need a transformer, diodes and a resistor.

Step by step process:

During the assembly work, the master assembles a power level control board according to the diagram.
Using a heat gun, you need to make a plastic blank for the board body and solder the corners of the tin box.
At the next stage, a tin box is made for the brush, with the help of which the tip is cleaned and the stop for the device is assembled.
Next, the bolts on the clamp are soldered (like a third hand) and the base of the structure is made of plywood, on which a recess is cut for further placement of rosin melted with a hairdryer.
Metal boxes, clamps and stands are fixed, after which the board is screwed in and the housing part is secured.
The final stage of making the stand is to screw the brush box and fix the anti-slip rubber feet on the back side.

The abundance of options for making stands at home allows each craftsman to choose the most suitable method for himself. By strictly following the step-by-step guide, you can quickly build a convenient design that will prevent damage to surfaces when using a soldering iron.

Recommendations

For stands with a diode, select the diode itself in terms of power, with a margin designed for a specific soldering iron. For example, 25 W soldering irons will require a diode with a maximum operating current of 110-120 mA, and taking into account a 2-3-fold reserve to prevent overheating of the part itself, the maximum operating current will reach 0.3 amperes. The use of diodes with a reverse voltage less than 300 V is not allowed - if the voltage is at the limit or slightly beyond the limit, thermal and electrical breakdown will occur.

Do not use plastic as the main material - the heated inserts of the holders, which transfer excess heat in a matter of seconds, will quickly melt it. The holders will fall to the side, and the soldering iron will “move” off the stand onto the table.

It is recommended to use heat-resistant and non-flammable power cables. Ground the soldering iron body separately.