DIY Hot Air Soldering Iron using 12-18volts DC at 2-3 amps

Step 5 Close up of element

The idea in keeping the straight lengths long is to have some room to play with when putting it all together. The final length decided on was slightly larger than this one. I shorted this out on the 12 volt battery and even though the battery was half dead, I was able to get some kewl heat from it. I figured some extra lengths of coil may help desensitize temperature fluxes during slight voltage changes.