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How To Maintain Your Tools

Soldering Irons - The iron itself really can't be maintained, except for maybe putting a little bit of anti-seize in the inside. This prevents the tip from freezing inside the chamber. However, I found it just makes a lot of smoke.

When you first buy a new tip, you should tin the iron.

How to tin your soldering iron:

1. First you'll need a Sal Ammoniac Block.
2. Plug your soldering iron in and let it heat up.
3. Once hot, hold the block at the base (so you don't burn yourself).
4. Rub the hot iron over one edge of the block. It will smoke, so don't worry. However, don't breathe it in; it's not good for you.
5. After rubbing it on both sides of the tip (and the sides), apply a bit of solder on the tip. I use 50-50 because it's cheaper. Think of the Sal Ammoniac as flux for your iron.
6. Let this sit on the tip for about a minute (to let it soak in).
7. Next wipe the tip off on a damp/wet sponge (enough water so the sponge is wet, but not soaking wet).
8. Repeat steps 4-7.
9. After the second time wiping it off, put a little more on and turn off the iron. The solder coating prevents oxidation while your iron sits around waiting for you to use it.

If your tip gets dirty while you're working on a project, just wipe it off on your sponge. If it's very dirty, re-tin the tip. Don't ever dip the iron into a bottle of flux to tin it!!! I've seen this done: it splatters, it smokes, it's dangerous. This will KILL your iron; it will oxidize 10 times faster than normal plus the iron may burn out. After all, you wouldn't wash a hair drier in a sink. Flux gets into the iron and helps to kill it that much faster. Also don't brush the flux on; it's just as bad. Even though it does do a good job tinning, just don't do it because it will destroy your iron in a few months.

The Glass Cutter - There's not a lot of maintenance to do here. It's a basic piece of equipment. These are the things I do with my cutter:

1. Keep the cutter oiled, I use a mixture of 50% Kerosene and 50% 3-in-1 Oil. I use the type of cutter that stores the oil in the handle. I just pump some oil to the tip when I need it. Some people use a cutter where the oil comes out automatically, (such as the Score Master II Series where the oil just pours out, making a mess). In the Gold Tip Series, oil is dispensed by a wick system, so you get the right amount of oil every time.
2. I personally never liked the idea of cutting fluid in a bottle. You're always throwing the cutter in, which is bad for the wheel. If you do use this method, fill the bottom with cotton or something to absorb the shock.
3. Rub the wheel every so often. I run my thumb over the wheel to keep it freely moving. I keep pushing it around until I stop hearing the crunchy noises stop. This lets me know that the wheel is still rolling, and not sliding in one place.
4. Don't drop the cutter on the floor. I know sometimes it can't be prevented, but if you see it fall, try to catch it with you leg or something. This way if it falls it will land on its side or something.
5. Try not to let your cutter run off the edge of the glass. It may make the cutter dull faster.
6. Don't run over a scored line twice, besides messing up your break; it will also mess up the cutter a little.

Glass Grinders - First of all, make sure you put water in it, enough so that the water comes up on to the glass. Though some people don't think so, I like using the grinder coolant. It is an extra thing to get and not totally necessary but I found that it makes clean up easier. The coolant mixes with the ground glass and holds it together in almost a gel. So when you go to scrape up the glass, it "holds" together, and doesn't spread out as quickly. It's important that you don't put too much coolant in, because if you do, the water will get a slippery slimy feel to it.

There's not much you can do to a glass grinder to "kill" it. The worse that will happen is that the motor will slow down. However, if it does this, it means you're pushing way too hard. If you push hard, you can slip and cut off a finger. Now you wouldn't want to do that, would you? Imagine the mess it would make, all that blood all over your pattern.

Glass - Don't forget glass; it can be overlooked. Always keep the glass clean. Clean it when you bring it home from the store (until there isn't any dirt on the paper towel). And clean it if it starts looking dirty. Cleaning is important; it prevents scratches if there was any grit on the glass. It prevents glass slippage. Glass, for some reason, forms a film that can cause you to lose your grip. And lastly, it will show you what the true color of the glass is.

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Started on 9-22-98