The tube amp soldering class....

Tom,

Matt and I will be there barring no unforseen circumstances on the way up.

Im in!

Me too!

ray

I'll be there.

So far we have 7 folks attending the soldering class. Is there anybody else planning on attending? Mark and I will be hosting this class and we need to know before we get there how many folks plan on attending.

Thanks, fellas.

I'll help if needed.

I figured you would. I would have already asked you but with only 7 folks attending and 2 instructors so far, I figured that we have it covered for now. For now, just pop in with your assistance at the class when you see someone who needs assistance and Mark and I are caught up with other folks. Thanks, bud.

BTW, another thread has been posted by Chauss that offered a kind of "online" tutorial. I would advise that folks watch this prior to attending. The better prepared you are for soldering? The quicker and better the amp build. Keep in mind, this is what you will be soldering....



Knowing that, here's the soldering primer Chauss provided on another thread...

http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm

I'm in.

Great series on building a tube amp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1ENOdYN6iA&feature=BFa&list=ULi47OzzbJj-E&index=1

I will sit in since it has been over 15+ this yrs since I have done this type of soldering!

I thought I answered this already, I can help

but in the mean time, for the guys who have never soldered, get some wire, strip the ends, tin these and reattach them to each other.
also twist the ends together and solder this.

if you have any junk electronics, cut out some of the resistors and caps, solder the ends together.

radio shack sells project boards you can also get a big bag of resistors for about 12$, then go to town. see what solder looks like when it gets hot and starts to flow,

something else, to remember solderer will flow to the heat, if you have ever seen copper water pipe done up, you get the joint hot, but then when its starting to melt, you move the heat to the bottom of the joint, it pulls/wicks the solder right into and all around the joint.

I will attend

radio shack sells project boards you can also get a big bag of resistors for about 12$, then go to town. see what solder looks like when it gets hot and starts to flow,

something else, to remember solderer will flow to the heat, if you have ever seen copper water pipe done up, you get the joint hot, but then when its starting to melt, you move the heat to the bottom of the joint, it pulls/wicks the solder right into and all around the joint.

And if you want to see something else....take one of the project boards right out of the package, slip a stripped wire through a hole and solder it..as best you can.

Then use a pencil eraser or scotchbrite over another area of the solder pads. Look at how what looked fine before, will now show a better shine! Now solder down another wire thru a hole onto a solder pad. Observe how much easier the solder flows and quicker. Better heat transfer. How the solder bead edges level out better, inditing flow, rather than beading up on the edges.

Unless you just happen to get out of the package a very recent manufactured board, you'll see right away what I'm talking about. It shows the importance of clean surfaces for solder flow. If you don't see good flow, then you've got potential for poor connections and future trouble. These are often called "cold" solder joints. The same conditions apply to the leads on components and to other connection points.

Totally agree that much can be seen from watching the solder and metal connection points and the color of them as you heat and cool afterwards. It's all about heat control! High enough heat on the connection and avoiding it getting wicked away by greater metal mass or into components.

Mark

Tom,

I didn't see in the thread what Watershed cabin the Thursday evening 8pm soldering class will be in? Sorry if I missed it.

Tom, if its Thursday, I'll be there too.

I know how to solder courtesy of the U.S. Navy but it's been a lomg time.

Tom, if its Thursday, I'll be there too.

I know how to solder courtesy of the U.S. Navy but it's been a lomg time.

Glad you can join us Frankie. The only thing that we will be missing are the "Hot Instructors" unless we catch one of the "White coats" on fire with our soldering guns.