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  1. #1
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    Soldering gun for cutting nylon

    I picked up a soldering gun last night for nylon cutting duty. I decided to test it out this morning and am experiencing mixed results. Hopefully, someone can weigh in and tell me if I'm doing something wrong.

    Here is the gun I picked up. It came with 3 tips. A partial pull of the trigger gives me 140 watts and a full pull gives me 100 watts.



    I decided to try the tip that was already in the gun. I believe it's the std. soldering tip (fat, wedge-shaped end). I wasn't sure how long to let the gun heat up, so I gave the trigger a full pull (low setting) for about 10 seconds. Before I even put tip to fabric, the finish on the entire tip started to bubble as seen in this pic. Is this normal? While the end still resembles a wedge-point, it isn't as sharp as it was before I heated it.





    I've probably cut 2-3' of fabric so far. It does provide a nice clean cut when the tip is really hot. I'm afraid to keep it really hot though because the tip finish is failing and I could see that the fitting was bending a bit as I was dragging it along my straight edge. I had to straighten it several times.

    Before trying one of the other tips, I thought I'd check to see if I'm doing something wrong. I thought one of these might work, especially if I filed the edge down a little more. Both have flat ends, but neither are sharp. Of course, if the finish is just going to bubble up like the other tip, I'm not sure that would help.


    Any tips (no pun intended)? I'm assuming I need to keep the trigger pulled for the entire length of the cut. The instructions say the gun is designed for intermittent use, with a duty cycle of one minute on and four minutes off. I guess for really long cuts, I may need to let it cool down before finishing the cut. Right now, I'm afraid to apply heat for more than 15 seconds for fear that the tip would just melt into a pile of goo.

  2. #2
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    I've had a gun like that for 25 yrs.
    You won't melt the tip with use. The soldering tip which you are using is 'tinned' with solder to protect it. When soldering, you need to keep a film of resin core solder on the tip. After time the tip will get corroded and you need to replace it.

    BTW, tip replacement requires bending the leads once the nuts are slid on. There's a video at youtube if you have any problems. The tip leads bend well.

    You can't put much pressure on any of the gun tips, so leaning on the tip is a no-no if you don't want to bend the wires.

    The tip to use for fabric is the cutting tip provided in your kit- the lower one in the pic. The other tip is a 'smoothing' tip used for plastics.
    See here for a list of tips:
    http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/we...s/sguntips.htm

    I've used my Weller for some 'several minute' jobs. The caution is to change the habits of folks who are accustomed to using a soldering iron, where in the olden days you plugged it in when you started work and unplugged at the end of the job. Better irons today have a thermostatic control so they cycle on-off.

    BTW, you need a cheap cutting board - a sheet (or strip) of masonite works well. Replace when it gets too many grooves burnt in it.

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    ^this...the bubbles are just the tinning solder beading up. you can wipe it off with a damp paper towel when it is hot and molten.

    As said, the lower right tip in your last photo is the cutting tip that works best. Do not sharpen it.

  4. #4
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    Thanks for the feedback, guys. I will switch to the cutting tip (now that I know which one that is ) and see if I have better results. I was thinking that other tip bubbled up like solder, but I've never used one of these before so I wasn't sure.

    Have you had any luck with the rope cutting tip in the link you provided? I was thinking of ordering one of those and a replacement cutting tip so I have an extra on hand.

    I used a small piece of Masonite in my initial trials and it worked great.

    Thanks again.

    EDIT: This is the video I found showing how to bend the leads on the replacement tips. FWIW, the model I bought (Weller 8200PKS) has the set screws instead of the nuts seen in the video. The tips just slide in without any bending required. The guy in the video prefers the older models with nuts.
    Last edited by Spaceman; 10-03-2014 at 13:07.

  5. #5
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    I use the rope cutting tip on 11-12mm nylon and polyester climbing ropes and it works very well for that (outdoors...lots of smoke) but I haven't found it very useful for the materials I use for hammocking.

  6. #6
    New Member Spazz's Avatar
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    I've used this: http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WSB25WB...r+wood+burning And it has worked great.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by gmcttr View Post
    I use the rope cutting tip on 11-12mm nylon and polyester climbing ropes and it works very well for that (outdoors...lots of smoke) but I haven't found it very useful for the materials I use for hammocking.
    +1 on the smoke - and it can be quite acrid as well, depending on the fiber.
    I use the 'normal' cutting tip for cutting thinner line and webbing, but it can take some patience to get through thicker stuff.

    About nuts vs setscrews - I've no opinion on the difference but do check the tightness of the attachment from time to time - they seem to loosen up a bit with use and then the performance drops- you need a good tight attachment because the supply voltage is low.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by VictoriaGuy View Post
    +1 on the smoke - and it can be quite acrid as well, depending on the fiber.
    I use the 'normal' cutting tip for cutting thinner line and webbing, but it can take some patience to get through thicker stuff.

    About nuts vs setscrews - I've no opinion on the difference but do check the tightness of the attachment from time to time - they seem to loosen up a bit with use and then the performance drops- you need a good tight attachment because the supply voltage is low.
    Thanks for posting this, I was wondering why mine has not been working so great as it used to.
    Since I retired, some times I stay awake all day, some times all night.

  9. #9
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    A piece of window glass or mirror (I use a cheap door mirror from a garage sale) makes a good cutting surface. When you cut on wood and pull off the fabric it pulls off little slivers.

  10. #10
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    straight blade razor with aluminum alligator clips should be worth a try

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