@ beenthere
yes, I learned from my dr that you are supposed to drain the blood pools so the fingernail won't come off. He does it by melting through the fingernail with a miniature soldering iron! Didn't hurt a bit.

@markd77

Thus my second rule: Never stand behind an electricians elbow!

 

I do not remember any mishaps about solder burns but recently, very recently I must say.
I was desoldering some SMD IC's and this little bugger just refuced to come loose.
So I just tighten my grip on the tweezer and TWAAAAANG !!

The stupid &$#@*> thing landed Right under my neck.

Couldn't move as my hands were full. Rest u imagine.

PS. I blame the thread starter for this incident.

 

Hey >:|

hahaha XD
Thats a nasty burn there !

 

Ouch, nasty.
I've had it where I was holding a component that I was soldering and the lead was long and semi spring loaded, if I let it go it would have made contact with like 4 IC leads.
Not a good situation.

 

I find it interesting that, when we hold a component close to the soldered spot and we realize that our fingertips are getting exponentially hotter, we find the time to assess the situation and think:

Is it worth it if I hold the wire a bit longer in order to put everything down slowly and avoid damage to my board?

A battle of will.

 

I find it interesting that, when we hold a component close to the soldered spot and we realize that our fingertips are getting exponentially hotter, we find the time to assess the situation and think:

"Is this solder I am trying to melt, or that bit of bus wire?"

 

I find it interesting that, when we hold a component close to the soldered spot and we realize that our fingertips are getting exponentially hotter, we find the time to assess the situation and think:

Is it worth it if I hold the wire a bit longer in order to put everything down slowly and avoid damage to my board?

A battle of will.

It's natural instinct.
Gotta protect the important stuff first

I have found that over the last few years my tolerance for burns has shot way up. What used to get me going to the freezer for ice now just has me shaking it out and moving on.

 

"Is this solder I am trying to melt, or that bit of bus wire?"

I have been there more than I like. It ain't funny!

 

Now you're talking bad eyes, like the time I tried to show a man how to cut a capillary tube with a triangle file and found out it was a piece of #14 copper wire. That's the day I realized I would have to buy my first pair of glasses.

It was embarassing, too. This was the guy that I had said to, "Can't you see the threads on that bolt? Is something wrong with your eyes?"

Yeah, right. Ten years later and I'm having the same trouble!

 

It's not a soldering burn but it is an almost injury from using a hot air gun.

I had this old laptop motherboard, something from 1999. Anyway the CPU on it was actually soldered straight to the motherboard, and due to some technician's cock-up (or maybe it was broken at the factory?) the heatsink was never screwed on the processor properly. It touched it, partially. So the processor ran at around 95°C for most of its life, until it died. Nothing, dead. Anyway, I took it apart and had fun with my hot air gun (set to 480°C) removing components. Tantalum capacitors made acrid smoke when heated up, and tented to bubble a bit, but not much more. Then I saw this lithium coin cell on the board, next to it there was this nice RTC IC if I recall correctly. I went for the RTC IC knowing I could just take the coin cell out later, no need to desolder it. So I'm heating it up and then BANG!! the lithium cell exploded in my face, showering me and my room with lithium. It was scary, but I wasn't injured. Next time I will be more careful with hot air.

 

Did you know that you can drill the nail with a pin vice and a #40 drill and the nail won't come off? It does sting a bit when the drill goes all the way through, though

What we do is straighten out a paper clip, heat it with a match/lighter, then it'll melt it's way through the nail quite easily with very little pressure.

 

I was holding the soldering iron like I always do - like a pencil. then, like I always do when I'm holding a pencil (and deep in thought about something), I flipped the iron over and palmed all 750 degrees of it. I actually held it like that >1sec. I heard the sizzle and actually had to look to see where it was coming from. Then I dropped it in my lap.

 

I was holding the soldering iron like I always do - like a pencil. then, like I always do when I'm holding a pencil (and deep in thought about something), I flipped the iron over and palmed all 750 degrees of it. I actually held it like that >1sec. I heard the sizzle and actually had to look to see where it was coming from. Then I dropped it in my lap.

Haha, smooth

At least you didn't start twirling it and wrap the cord around your arm, that could have made some problems

 

I was holding the soldering iron like I always do - like a pencil. then, like I always do when I'm holding a pencil (and deep in thought about something), I flipped the iron over and palmed all 750 degrees of it. I actually held it like that >1sec. I heard the sizzle and actually had to look to see where it was coming from. Then I dropped it in my lap.

Ah, the Pavlov system of pain/reward teaching!

 

Ah, the Pavlov system of pain/reward teaching!

yeah, minus the reward part!

 

The reward is the lack of pain when you don't do that.

 

Casting lead bullets while sitting at the reloading bench wearing shorts was one of the lesser-well-thought-out things I'd done in the past.

It can get quite exciting if you return water-dropped bullet rejects to a hot lead pot; it's very likely that one will get a visit from the tinsel fairy if they attempt that feat.

(when you drop cold lead into a pot of molten lead, and if there is any moisture in the middle of the cold lead, when the lead melts, the water will suddenly boil, causing a steam explosion ejecting hot molten lead in a spray pattern. When the hot lead hits a cold surface, it solidifies quickly into something resembling tinsel.)

In a very closely related item, don't add cold lead to a solder pot, as you may get a visit from the tinsel fairy too.

I made a small solder pot out of a replacement element for a coffee urn that I found at a surplus store. It takes awhile to heat up, but certainly does a nice job when I have a lot of wires to tin.

 

I had a lead/water experience as a kid. My dad brought me to the flea market and I bought an old "foundry cup" (I don't know the real name for it - it's like a 3ft ladel with spouts on each side). It was about 1/3 full of hard lead. I got it home and put it in a wood fire, fanned with a leaf blower, and melted it, then dumped it in a pail of water. The water pretty much vaporized instantly and what was left looked like the asteroid from armageddon. Good thing I didn't die.

 

I had a lead/water experience as a kid. My dad brought me to the flea market and I bought an old "foundry cup" (I don't know the real name for it - it's like a 3ft ladel with spouts on each side). It was about 1/3 full of hard lead. I got it home and put it in a wood fire, fanned with a leaf blower, and melted it, then dumped it in a pail of water. The water pretty much vaporized instantly and what was left looked like the asteroid from armageddon. Good thing I didn't die.

I like to see that .

 

I like to see that .

lol, Well, you have the instructions there. wear a face shield at minimum.