Here is a great solution to making your own surface mount soldering iron. All you need is a Radio Shack Desoldering Iron, a section of desoldering braid, and an aquarium pump with a section of aquarium hose. You simply drill a hole in the bulb, and shove the hose into the bulb. Crimp the tip of the iron a little, and wrap the tip with a section of desoldering braid. Heat the iron up, and then turn on the pump. You will have a perfect little surface mount soldering iron.
Modding today’s hardware often means moving or removing tiny surface mount components, and using a standard soldering iron feels about as effective as using a hammer to kill a fly. If buying an expensive reflow workstations seems like overkill to overclock your laptop, check out today’s How-To where we’ll build a simple reflow tool for under $20. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Well, you might want to click on anyway, it’s an impressive feat nonetheless that might want to get you installing particular chips on particular game consoles (or not).
Leave a Reply