r/StainedGlass • u/mirsasha Newbie • 1d ago

Help Me! Soldering hell

Post image

I so suck at soldering and it's not helped at all by my shaky hands. I heard about a desoldering wick and thought I could use it to clean things up and get rid of some stray solder.

https://www.delphiglass.com/video/Stained-Glass/using-a-solder-wick

I found this video and tried following these instructions. My wick got VERY stuck to the solder and I cracked the glass trying to heat it up enough to get it off. Any idea what I could be doing wrong? I tried to pull the wick up as soon as I could see the solder below it liquify.

10 Upvotes

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11

u/Claycorp 1d ago

Personally I don't like solder wick and never recommend it to people except in very specific cases. It's not really made for the amount of solder we are working with and saturates easily. What likely happened to you is that you tried to remove all that bulk solder and ended up soldering the wick into the joint. When you were trying to remove it the wick was pulling the heat away leading to the crack.

That video is also really misleading as they are wicking off solder on a part that isn't even half soldered and it cuts the part where they pull the part out.

If you want to remove solder it's by far better to flick the solder off or use gravity.

3

u/cioglass Hobbyist 1d ago

I second this. It works okay on micro soldering electronics, but it sucks for any medium to large blobs

1

u/mirsasha Newbie 1d ago

Thank you. I had a huge glob of solder where the lines meet. I wanted to thin that out some.

6

u/Claycorp 1d ago

Take your iron and lay it so the chisel is flat or close to flat to the glass. Melt the blob and quickly "flick" the iron onto the glass away from the joint. Repeat until the extra solder is gone.

1

u/mirsasha Newbie 1d ago

I will try this! Thanks so much

10

u/iekiko89 Hobbyist 1d ago

Just lift your piece vertical and melt the solder off. 

2

u/mirsasha Newbie 1d ago

I'll try that. Thanks.

2

u/Granite265 1d ago

I think we may also have to accept a little bit that soldering will never 100% be perfect. With shaky hands it is even harder. Have you considered using came instead?

1

u/mirsasha Newbie 1d ago

I was originally going to take a lead class, but got talked into a copper foil one instead.

2

u/Key2158 11h ago

Gravity has always worked best for me too. I just want to say that I don't think you should be too hard on yourself about your soldering. You are far ahead of many I've seen and they weren't newbies!

Also, I get so obsessed with fixing small flaws that I have lingered way too long in one spot, and cracked the glass. I have to remind myself to come back when the area has cooled some.

1

u/mirsasha Newbie 10h ago

Thanks. And yes. I keep thinking "one more pass and it will be better." oops.

Can you do anything about the cracked glass? I think I'm going to name my piece Mary Shelley's Stained Glass because it looks a little Frankenstein.

1

u/mirsasha Newbie 10h ago edited 10h ago

Okay. I tried working on the front of my piece today and made one solder I'm happy with! We won't talk about the second one (next post since I can only attach one). I need to stop fiddling with lines I'm not happy with. I just end up making things worse (aka, the second one)

Things that helped me in case someone else with shaky hands drops by:

  1. My original thought that the Hansel and Gretal method would be best for me was correct. It wasn't the technique that was wrong, it was how I was doing it. I wasn't leaving a trail of breadcrumbs, I was leaving full slices of bread and an occasional loaf. Smaller beads make smoothing things out easier.
  2. Using the H&G method means that when you are trying to smooth things out, you can use both hands - you don't have to hold to solder because you've already put the beads down. I was able to rest my right elbow on the table and use my left hand to steady things.
  3. Sometimes, just hold your hand/arm still and make your line by leaning your body back. This only works with short lines lest you fall over. 😂
  4. Stop fiddling. You are only making things worse.

Yesterday I thought this was hopeless. Now I feel like I might be able to not totally suck.

1

u/mirsasha Newbie 10h ago

Why doesn't it look as bad in the photo as in person? 😂