Soldering Tip: Buy a Tin of Tip Tinner/Cleaner

Tip Tinner/Cleaner Compound (0.5 Oz.) – RadioShack.com

If you do more than a little soldering, then a pot of tip tinner/cleaner (I’ve been using RadioShack’s brand, stock #64-020) is a worthwhile investment. The heating and cooling of the soldering tip over the course of many sessions tends to corrode it–I’m a little unclear why, as I’ve gotten a lot of mixed explanations. Some chalk it up to impurities in the solder, and others to the fact that, if you tinned your tip with regular strands of solder, you’ve likely done so unevenly, resulting in a blob on one side, and an almost naked face on the other. Whatever the cause, the degradation of a soldering iron tip is *much* more pronounced when you use a cheap tip (which, by definition, is lower-quality metal) or a cheap iron (which is less temperature stable, meaning that even as you work, there are big swings in the temperature of the iron).
In any case, I’ve found that tip cleaner extends the life of a soldering iron tip by years. Here’s the skinny:

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Dave-o Demoing the $10 Electric Guitar at Maker Faire Detroit

David | Flickr – Photo Sharing!
(Warning, I flub the riff pretty terribly when I play it the second time, with the fuzztone engaged.)

You can build one of these, too; it’s Project 13 in Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred: Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make with Your Kids (save 35% if you use the coupon code MAKEMORE when you order; good ’til Xmas).

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Beer and Boomerangs Launch Party ACHIEVED!


Thanks so much to everyone who helped make the Beer and Boomerangs Book Launch a success! Despite the seasonal midwestern cold and darkness, we enjoyed three hours of beer, wine, salty snacks, boomerangs, rocking out on the $10 Electric Guitar & Thunderdrum, and kid-based bedlam–including ad hoc rolling chair bumper car races.
We’re still celebrating the holiday season:
1) Now through Xmas save 35% when you order the book directly from the publisher, No Starch Press, using the coupon code MAKEMORE
2) We’ve released another sample project as a free download: Project 18: Cardboard Boomerangs. You’ll be making and throwing in minutes, esp. if you download these Print-n-Snip Boomerang templates (work great with cereal boxes)

Book Launch Party: Beer and Boomerangs on December 3!

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The official Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred book launch party is December 3 from 6 to 8pm at the Workantile Exchange (118 S. Main St., Ann Arbor, MI, 48104)

  • FREE beer and family-friendly refreshments!
  • Hang out with Dave-o himself!
  • Check out projects from the book!
  • Build, tune, fly, and keep FREE cardboard boomerangs!
    December 3 is also Midnight Madness throughout downtown Ann Arbor, so the streets will be lively with free music, jugglers, fire eaters, and crazy-awesome deals at lots of shops, restaurants, bars, and cafes!
    RSVP via Facebook, or email me at dave[AT]davideriknelson[DOT]com, or just show up and have fun!

OMFG the books are printed!

No Starch Press and Malloy (the printer, right here in Ann Arbor, Michigan) have made a superawesome book out of the jumbled mess of ill-lit pics and typos I produced–and you can order it directly from the publisher at a 35% discount with this coupon code: MAKEMORE (good until the end of December).
(UPDATE: As of 2014-ish Malloy is now Edwards Brothers Malloy. They no longer print my book for No Starch, but they are still rad and still right here in Ann Arbor, MI,)
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