"Third hand" soldering technique

[CFMartinD18V]

Here is a really fast "three hand" soldering technique I've been using to set free the solder applying hand.

25cm plastic tube is attached to your magnifying classes with solder runing trough the tube. Now your head becomes your third hand and With little practise you will master feeding solder with your head movement in no time.


Third hand soldering technique - YouTube


Happy soldering :^)

[sakis]

Well sorry but your technique is absolutely wrong and doesn't help anyone solving a problem

Its not necessary to have a third hand while soldering ...simply because if you need one hand for the plug one hand for the cable and the third hand for the solder means that you are trying to apply both heat and solder at three spots at the same time

1 to the plug
2 to the cable
3 to the soldering tip

Try to do that in 3.5 mini jack and the jacket of the cable will be toasted with in seconds

correct practice is to apply soldering to the cable ... then to the plug join the two things together apply heat and there going to be self soldered in no time so no thermal stress for the jacket and 2 hands procedure all the way through ...

[CFMartinD18V]

Sakis, this technique can be used in many cituations, not only cable-connector soldering like my example. It is well proven method and was used way back when I was working for the electronics industry where you have to solder fast and reliably. Also I have used this technique in audio-video installations in various places like recording studios, concert halls and congress centers and it's absolutely time saver in field conditions.

[sakis]

fine go ahead no probs

[DF96]

That looks pretty slow to me. Trying to coordinate the movement of three items so they converge is harder than doing two, so it will take longer and solder or heat are more likely to end up in the wrong place. Hold the work still, then use one hand for solder and one for the heat.

Two ways to solder a wire to a connector:
1. Tin both separately, then bring them together and apply heat.
2. Make good mechanical joint by wrapping the wire, then apply heat and solder to both simultaneously.
The second method is the best, when possible. Neither require three hands.

[CFMartinD18V]

The speed comes from the fact that you don't have to mount your connectors and cable in position (mechanical third hand), pre tin and then do the actual soldering. Everything goes in one phase.

I use all the methods you guys mentioned too depending the case, but when it comes to solder for example 200 XLR-connectors, the one I proposed is superior. It works suprising well in other cases too.

[gmphadte]

I rarely use a third hand. The left hand fingers r used as two forceps. The thumb and the ring finger holds one piece and the index and mid holds the second and maneuvers. Used to it but I will normally pre-tin the parts.

Gajanan Phadte

[AuroraB]

I use a somewhat similar tch with my left hand, - solder usually goes with thumb and index finger.....
a small bench vise also does wonders....

[cbdb]

For connectors I usually plug the connector into something, its quicker than a vise ( no worries about too much pressure), and it holds well. If you do this often you can make a custom panel/box with all the different connectors you usually solder.