Soldering irons: made in America but designed in Russia?

[Allus Smith]

All this talk about soldering irons makes me think how crummy too
much American industrial design is.

Some US industrial design looks great but some looks downright,
well, Russian.

Sure you can see crap-looking design in western Europe too but
there's a lot less of it than in the US.

Take soldering irons for example. An ordinary soldering iron in
the US with unregulated temperature still has great big mofo screws
holding the tip.

By comparison, my 30 year old British-made basic Antex is a sleek
looking baby and those Antexes are not particularly expensive.

Don't start me on the looks of cars!

 

[Rich Webb]

All this talk about soldering irons makes me think how crummy too
much American industrial design is.

Some US industrial design looks great but some looks downright,
well, Russian.

Sure you can see crap-looking design in western Europe too but
there's a lot less of it than in the US.

Take soldering irons for example. An ordinary soldering iron in
the US with unregulated temperature still has great big mofo screws
holding the tip.

By comparison, my 30 year old British-made basic Antex is a sleek
looking baby and those Antexes are not particularly expensive.

Don't start me on the looks of cars!

Same troll. Must be bored...

 

[William Sommerwerck]

I don't know which brands you're referring to, but I've owned EDSYN
(Engineering Dedicated To Suit Your Needs!) irons for 20+ years, and they
don't look anything like that.

 

[Allus Smith]

On 20 Apr 21:08, Allus Smith wrote:

I don't know which brands you're referring to, but I've owned
EDSYN (Engineering Dedicated To Suit Your Needs!) irons for
20+ years, and they don't look anything like that.

EDSYN are lovely irons but none of them list for under $100 and
I believe they all have temperature regulation.

Apologies if I wasn't clear but EDSYN wasn't what I had in mind
when I said "An ordinary soldering iron in the US with
unregulated temperature". I mean the cheaper end of the market
but not as cheap the rock-bottom $5 irons!

http://www.edsyn.com/index.php?Mode=SolderingStations

 

[terryc]

Same troll. Must be bored...

Not to mention the moron who responded by posting their dross in full to
all newsgroups again.

At least drop this newsgroup when you do.

 

[Allus Smith]

Ahm, what? See below.




Tell me, where's that ugly side-screw on this one?

http://www.edsyn.com/index.php?Mode=piw&pn=CL1481

Regarding your comment above, last time I checked $54.86 was
still less than $100 ...

Oh, and no temperature regulation

Good point Joerg. I missed that one in the online catalogue.

You may be misunderstanding me if you think I said ALL basic
American soldering irons look Russian. I meant to say there was a
lot more of this sort of poor design in the US than in western
Europe. A single item doesn't really prove or disprove it.

However. as you kindly drew my attention to EDSYN then I show
illustrate the Antexes I mentioned.

<http://www.antex.co.uk/prodtype.asp?CAT_ID=180
&strPageHistory=category>

Consumer goods are cheaper in the US, so the usual $1 = £1 is
probably a good indicator of the sort of price level these irons
are at. It's the sub $20 market (including tax).

 

[Eeyore]

All this talk about soldering irons makes me think how crummy too
much American industrial design is.

Some US industrial design looks great but some looks downright,
well, Russian.

Sure you can see crap-looking design in western Europe too but
there's a lot less of it than in the US.

Take soldering irons for example. An ordinary soldering iron in
the US with unregulated temperature still has great big mofo screws
holding the tip.

By comparison, my 30 year old British-made basic Antex is a sleek
looking baby and those Antexes are not particularly expensive.

Model C ?

I had one of those in my hobby days. Lovely for miniature work ( 15W ).
I also had a SOLON 25W. Another classic. The copper bit was held in
place with a split pin. Of course I've had a Weller TCP for decades now.
Love 'em.

Graham

 

[qrk]

All this talk about soldering irons makes me think how crummy too
much American industrial design is.

Some US industrial design looks great but some looks downright,
well, Russian.

Sure you can see crap-looking design in western Europe too but
there's a lot less of it than in the US.

Take soldering irons for example. An ordinary soldering iron in
the US with unregulated temperature still has great big mofo screws
holding the tip.

By comparison, my 30 year old British-made basic Antex is a sleek
looking baby and those Antexes are not particularly expensive.

Don't start me on the looks of cars!

If you expect something from a $10 hardware store soldering iron
that's made in China, you shouldn't be in electronics. The only people
who use those are kids starting out in tronics and people who don't
know anything about electronics.

If you want a good iron, get a Metcal (now OK). Metcal has soldering
irons for under $200 which work very well for SMT and thruhole. My
only gripe about the cheap Metcals is the tip temperature only goes up
to 750 deg F. Gotta use my 20+ year old Weller iron for melting
isulation off of magnet wire.

If you really want to see a classic soldering iron, get your hands on
an American Beauty! You'll drop your shorts when you get your hands on
that one.

 

[Rich Grise]

Take soldering irons for example. An ordinary soldering iron in the US
with unregulated temperature still has great big mofo screws holding the
tip.

I have one of these, and a desoldering iron like that; but I also have a
Radio Shack "Princess" iron that uses tips that thread into the element.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Rich Grise]

I have one of these, and a desoldering iron like that; but I also have a
Radio Shack "Princess" iron that uses tips that thread into the element.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062737
but mine has a pastel blue handle, and uses much smaller, cuter tips.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Rich Grise]

Mini. Citroën. Vauxhall. Volvo. Rolls. Porsche. Fiat.

http://philip.greenspun.com/images/pcd3815/dublin-deux-chevaux-20.4.jpg

I thought the Miata was ugly, until I saw a PT Cruiser. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Rich Grise]

You may be misunderstanding me if you think I said ALL basic American
soldering irons look Russian. I meant to say there was a lot more of this
sort of poor design in the US than in western Europe. A single item
doesn't really prove or disprove it.

Now, you ARE trolling.

See ya!
Rich

 

[William Sommerwerck]

I thought the Miata was ugly, until I saw a PT Cruiser. ;-)

The design is reminiscent of the Chrysler Airstream, which was a major flop
70+ years ago.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

I thought the Miata was ugly, until I saw a PT Cruiser. ;-)

AFAIK the Airstream was not a major flop. The Airflow was, but
mostly due to really bad manufacturing defects.

I might have gotten the name wrong, as I was in a rush. Regardless, Chrysler
produced a "streamlined" car that the public didn't warm to.

 

[ian field]

... and wherever in the world I happened to be, there were always those
Weller stations. Antex? Never seen it, never heard of it. Strange, ain't
it?

The weller irons were once the best money could buy - then they got took
over by cooper tools, since then the bean counters reduced the thickness of
the iron plating so the bit oxidises in the barrel, "freezing" in and
impossible to remove without damaging the element.

Years ago I bought a new weller - the stat lasted nearly 2 weeks before
welding closed, they sent me a replacement FOC which lasted nearly a month
before also welding closed - unfortunately I was away from my bench at the
time and it burned out the element, I've been using Antex irons ever since,
they usually last at least 5 years as long as the bit is replaced at the
proper interval and I can buy at least a 30 year supply of Antex irons for
just the weller (not including transformer base) iron.

I'd only use weller again if it was free (and I was allowed to keep an Antex
on standby for when the weller packs up).

 

[T]

The weller irons were once the best money could buy - then they got took
over by cooper tools, since then the bean counters reduced the thickness of
the iron plating so the bit oxidises in the barrel, "freezing" in and
impossible to remove without damaging the element.

Years ago I bought a new weller - the stat lasted nearly 2 weeks before
welding closed, they sent me a replacement FOC which lasted nearly a month
before also welding closed - unfortunately I was away from my bench at the
time and it burned out the element, I've been using Antex irons ever since,
they usually last at least 5 years as long as the bit is replaced at the
proper interval and I can buy at least a 30 year supply of Antex irons for
just the weller (not including transformer base) iron.

I'd only use weller again if it was free (and I was allowed to keep an Antex
on standby for when the weller packs up).

I've got this one. Works perfectly - the only issue I've run into is
having to know the melting point temps. Other than that I love it.

http://www.mpja.com/productsdirect.asp?dept=480&main=79&item1=15860
+TL&item2=15845+TL&item3=15140+TL&item4=15141+TL

 

[ian field]

Strange. I've suggested the Weller WES51 with the PES51 pencil to many
clients and then they bought oodles of those. Never a problem, in years,
and this stuff is cranking at least 10h/day. Ok, they don't light
cigarettes anymore like people use to with the older Wellers because
smoking is no longer allowed in US businesses.

Last year in December I bought a WES51 also here for the lab, to have a
spare. But I started using it a lot because the tiny PES51 pencil lays
much nicer in the hand than the fat LR-20 of the older stations. They also
added a nice feature, not important to me but to companies and the fire
marshall: If the iron isn't moved in an hour or so it automatically shuts
down. Grand total of $92 plus tax, with pencil and one tip, not a bad deal
at all.

Maybe they learned from the mass exodus of customers and fixed the non
existent reliability since the last time I had the misfortune to pay good
money for one of their products, but once bitten twice shy, I'm not giving
them any more of my money.

 

[Rich Grise]

Strange. I've suggested the Weller WES51 with the PES51 pencil to many
clients and then they bought oodles of those. Never a problem, in years,
and this stuff is cranking at least 10h/day. Ok, they don't light
cigarettes anymore like people use to with the older Wellers because
smoking is no longer allowed in US businesses.

Unless it's a weld shop and the boss is a smoker. It is private property,
after all. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Rich Grise]

Maybe they learned from the mass exodus of customers and fixed the non
existent reliability since the last time I had the misfortune to pay good
money for one of their products, but once bitten twice shy, I'm not giving
them any more of my money.

The same reason I'll never buy another NiMH battery or CFL light.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[ian field]

It was the same for me, for a few years. Then I tried another batch of CFL
because CostCo had them for less than a buck a piece. Philips Marathon,
and they last and last and last. Of course I'd never buy a CFL at boutique
pricing since that's just not worth it.

Regardless of brand I still find the light quality is not as advertised - a
20W CFL does NOT produce the same light as a 100W incandescent.

Its difficult for me to make a life expectancy comparison as I had surge
limiting NTC thermistors mounted in the switch plates, this prolonged the
life of incandescent bulbs by an impressive margin - certainly much longer
than some of the first electronic CFLs to hit the market.