cheese1566
01-03-2009, 11:50 PM
Here is an improvised heater base plate I came up with the last week.
The base plate is 3x5.5x1" thick aluminum plate I got at the local machine shop for nothing. (It was actually an odd shaped 4x12x1/2" thick piece of truck frame.) I cut it down and doubled it. I tapped one side to bolt the two halves together.
I then drilled a 1/2" hole about 5" long from the rear. I took an old 30watt solder gun and screwed out the tip. The solder gun is slipped into the hole and shimmed to a tight fit with aluminum pop can material. It is held in place with a set screw in the base. Warms up the unit in about 20 minutes. Two holes were drilled to the rear for mounting the entire unit to the bench. The base was then drilled and tapped to accept the Lyman 450. I first tried an old curling iron, but it didn't heat adequate enough at 7 watts.
I scrounged parts and it cost about $2 in hardware. The same style solder gun can be had at the hardware store for $6.99 (Forney Welding Brand).
The base plate is 3x5.5x1" thick aluminum plate I got at the local machine shop for nothing. (It was actually an odd shaped 4x12x1/2" thick piece of truck frame.) I cut it down and doubled it. I tapped one side to bolt the two halves together.
I then drilled a 1/2" hole about 5" long from the rear. I took an old 30watt solder gun and screwed out the tip. The solder gun is slipped into the hole and shimmed to a tight fit with aluminum pop can material. It is held in place with a set screw in the base. Warms up the unit in about 20 minutes. Two holes were drilled to the rear for mounting the entire unit to the bench. The base was then drilled and tapped to accept the Lyman 450. I first tried an old curling iron, but it didn't heat adequate enough at 7 watts.
I scrounged parts and it cost about $2 in hardware. The same style solder gun can be had at the hardware store for $6.99 (Forney Welding Brand).