Homemade Soldering Iron

This is a soldering iron that I made from parts that I found around the house as well as tools that I had lying around. It is a relatively simple way of creating a tool that could be used on the go for electrical needs. This came about when I needed a way to complete the electrical work that I had wanted to do but did not have a soldering iron already at home for use.

Step 1: Tools and Parts

Tools:

• Wire Strippers
• Wire Cutter/sharp tool to cut the copper cable
• Scissors (for electrical tape)
• Screwdriver (only to make a hole in the wood without drill)
• Electrical Tape
• Hot Glue Gun

Materials

• 3 Wood Blocks (Mine from Jumbling tower board game)
• 18 Gauge wires
• AA Batteries
• RC Battery Box
• Hair Dryer (I had one at home)
• Bare Copper wire (8 Gauge)
• 18 Gauge Red/Black Connector Wires

Step 2: Open Dryer for Parts

1. Open dryer to reveal the coils and wires on the inside
2. Remove one of the coils as well as some of the covers by cutting the wires and extracting
3. Leave the rest on the side as it will not be used anymore.

Step 3: Prepare Handle/Mount for Copper

1. Take one of the wood blocks and drill a hole on the top side (smallest ends) about the size of the copper wire (1/8 Inch Diameter) 1 inch into the block.
2. Cut the bare copper wire to roughly 1.5 inches in length
3. Push bare copper wire into the hole and secure tightly (should stick just by being in the hole).

Step 4: Assemble Base

1. Assemble the base using 3 wood blocks
2. Connect 2 wood blocks together on the long sides using hot glue
3. Attach the last wood block with copper wire in it on the top (short side) again with hot glue

Step 5: Connecting Wires to Battery Box

1. Use the RC car batter box and find positive and negative ends that are eligible for connection
2. Connect red and black wires to positive and negative ends respectively
   1. Be sure that the wire is connected to inside in order to get proper connection
3. Wrap outside in electrical tape to secure and hold it together

Step 6: Setting Up Copper Wire

1. Take the protective cover and cut off enough to cover the wire while leaving the end exposed
2. Slide the cover all the way down the copper rod
3. Take roughly 5 inches of the nichrome wire that was extracted earlier and wrap around the protective cover
   1. Leave enough of the nichrome wire sticking out on either side to wrap around the other wires later
   2. Try to keep the coil tight against the covering when wrapping

Step 7: Connect Nichrome Wire to Battery Box

1. Take nichrome wire and battery box
2. Connect red wire to one end of the nichrome wire and black wire to the other end of the nichrome wire.
   1. My battery box already had a switch on it but can attach one on if you don't
3. Again wrap tightly to get proper connection and to complete circuit

Step 8: Final Touches

1. Here you can secure the battery box to the 2 block section of the base with hot glue.
2. You can as well wrap electrical tape around the 2 wires and bind them to the single block section of the base.

Step 9: Good to Go

Just place in the batteries and switch on the device. Be sure to let the device heat up as it takes a while before it is hot enough to melt the solder and is usable.