I can see a lot of you gentlemen work only on radios and have dedicated benches for the purpose. It seems I am always soldering at different locations and different types of items. Yesterday I was soldering on an electric powered honey extractor at a farm. Sure was nice to have the solder right at my iron !! Being able to find what is needed is worth the little bit of waste, which really isn't very much. I use needle nose pliers to hold the last little piece. To each his own. It works for me.

Ed

I actually started losing my solder for a few days after I first read this thread back when it was new.

No matter, since I thought of an idea, even though I don't usually misplace it. How about putting the roll on a long elastic leash, so the minute you stop using it, it will run back to its hook on the wall or where-ever with a resounding TWACK?

I was lucky enough to buy a hollow pencil with solder in it at a local swap meet. To refill, I just wrap around 60-100 coils of solder around a small dowel and resinsert the solder back into the hollow plastic pencil with removable tip. Throw back in milk crate with rest of soldering tools and irons-problem solved!:)-Gearhead-PS-Here's a link to a similar solder dispenser. If you look up solder dispenser on Amazon, it should also come up:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00386E1BC/ref ... B00386E1BC

Here's another link:

https://www.hobbymods.com/store/index.p ... -tube.html

-Gearhead

Actually that's a great idea. I have a roll of really fine solder and it's always getting tangled on the roll. I don't usually use more than an inch or two at a time of the fine stuff. Using a fat hollow pen body should solve the problem.

An old pen converted into solder holder is a great idea. Should also be able to use a spring to keep the solder from sliding back into the pen body after it gets used.

I've been using a pen to hold solder for years now. You remove the clear tube and push the ink out with a bit of paper towel and finish with spray degreaser. Remove the very tip that holds the ball, and use degreaser on that portion. take the solder and run it through the clear tube with a couple inches to spare, then wind it on the tube so the coils stop where the plastic tip is. loosen the coils a bit on the clear tube and insert the whole thing in the pen housing. You pull the solder out the tip, it doesn't go back into the pen. A pen of this type holds about 13 ft. of solder.

Thanks, 19&41 (?) What is that symbol?

This is a very clever, imaginative and useful idea. I tried it with 1/16" solder and it is a little tight in there, hard to pull out. The 1/32" solder in another one works great. I don't have any solder between 1/32" and 1/16".

The photo really helps understand this, thanks again,

Bill

It is a highway that runs south out of Atlanta. Keep an eye on your holder if someone comes by needing a pen. Lead is not what it's cracked up to be as a graphic medium!

And thanks for the kind words!

Never heard of an..... ampersand?

Of course, I first encountered the symbol and the word in 1948 (that's A.D.). I had not, however, seen an ampersand in that exact font, so I asked.

Bill

&...The symbol for "and"

Here is my method of using solder. These are centrifuge sample tubes with a screw on cap. Drilled a hole in the bottom, wrapped the solder around a dowel, slid the coil off of the dowel, passed the loose end back through the coil and through the hole in the end of the tube. Screwed the cap back on and that's it. When that twenty or so feet of solder was used up then do it again. These can be gotten from supply houses, or from a pathology lab in a hospital. Every one knows some who works in a hospital. I have used large syringes with the excess plunger cut-off. Also a long prescription bottle would work too.

Great dispenser tip there TriBeam - thanks for posting it.

Chuck

I'm with Mike and Rickd. Have a roll on he bench and 4 or 5 roll on a shelf about 5' away. They rotate as needed.

That solder dispenser idea is not a new one. Solder can be bought that way, in a similar tube, though there is a hole in the cap instead of the bottom of the container.

http://www.amazon.com/Kester-Kwik-Draw- ... B00068IJI6

That was available as far back as the 60s. At one time I used the glass "test tubes" that fine cigars come in for solder. No chance of an errant tip melting a hole in it -although you didn't want to drop it, though...

A solder pen is a brilliant idea! I just made one. These tips and photos were also helpful.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to- ... /?ALLSTEPS

I cannot read this at all. Where are my glasses?

If you're browsing in Interneet Explorer, look in the bottom right corner of the browser window and you'll see a 100% next to a magnifying glass. Clilck on it to enlarge the text and screen for easier reading.

Chuck