November 01, 2004
Soldering, an engineering lost art.
It's kinda sad that engineers seem to be able to get away with not learning the skills necessary to actually implement whatever it is they're trying to design. Electrical engineers, for example, don't seem to be very adept with a soldering iron anymore. What does this also tend to imply? That while their designs on paper are probably sound on a theoretical standpoint, they're probably totally wrong from the practical standpoint.
I mean, someday I'll probably see somebody design a circuit and finally try to build it and ask me "where do I buy a 1 farad capacitor and an ideal current source?" Oi. When that day comes, I'll cry. And use lots of expletives. And probably fire somebody too.
Anyhow, today, in a demonstration of my alpha-geekiness, I got a picture to actually show up on an LCD panel I wired up myself. Not like "oh, I built my computer after buying a cheap combo deal from Fry's," but like "oh, I built my computer by wiring each gate on a breadboard." I soldered around 40 wires, by hand, in a tiny area that people normally expect only a machine to be able to do it. Nevermind that it took hours spread across days. And at least something about it worked. Sure, I don't know if the colors are right, but hey, at least I know most of it's right.
Oh, and no Metcal, no Hakko, no rework station, not even a Weller. I did it with a cheap ass soldering iron from Radio Shack, a tweezer, and a small piece of soldering braid. Respect my $10 worth of equipment! ph34r my 1337 5k11z!
I really ought to buy that Metcal off ebay sometime........
Posted by hachu at November 1, 2004 01:57 AMMuch much later update:
Shortly after I checked the work. The wires turned out to be correct. Had 2 of them shorted, on the controller board (easier) side so I fixed that. It was hard to tell since it was a low bit for a color.
And as of July 21st 2007, I own a Metcal SP200 soldering iron. Fabulous!
Posted by: hachu at August 27, 2007 12:26 AM