When did you start soldering? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: homebrew
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 06:24:24 pm
content: Just for curiosity ...I started in the age of 5-6. I now have a son in the age of 4 and I think would never allow him anywhere near my iron ... just too dangerous today. My parents were very easy ...And lead can't be that poisonous ... :-) Just kidding!

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 06:29:48 pm
content: ~8 I think, I wanted a lot in the age of five but father did not allow me to use soldering iron.

author: mcinque
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 06:35:07 pm
content: Maybe 14

author: Dagon
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 07:04:51 pm
content: 31. Late bloomer...

author: con-f-use
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 07:07:56 pm
content: First time was maybe 13ish with a crappy rod... wait that sounds dirty.

author: mimmus78
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 07:09:23 pm
content: I started at 12 with a gun iron ... but then stopped for something like 15 years.

author: Galaxyrise
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 07:25:43 pm
content: Soldering or DE-soldering? I was desoldering much younger than solderI don't remember when I started desoldering, but I was big enough to heft a CRT out of the dumpster. I didn't start putting things together till some time in high school when I got proper instruction on it.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 07:50:52 pm
content: ~8 for me.

author: JoeyP
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 08:00:55 pm
content: I was 6, but didn't build anything useful until I was 7.

author: Fsck
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 08:09:54 pm
content: ~13 only to recap computer motherboards.

author: tsmith35
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 08:14:34 pm
content: Dad got me a Heathkit tv kit sometime around age 14-16. It was something like 20" to 25" diagonal. I soldered every joint in the thing, and I learned a ton about soldering. The tv actually worked, too.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 08:15:43 pm
content: Probably about 10 or so. It's hard to remember. You need enough dexterity to position the iron precisely and enough sense not to burn things by being careless. Parents can probably judge when children have the required skills and maturity. It won't be the same age for every child.

author: Mr Pig
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 08:16:50 pm
content: About nineteen I'd guess. I've been into Hi-Fi for thirty-years and first bought a soldering iron so that I could make up leads, put plugs on, stuff like that.Shorty after my wife and I got married was soldering something on a coffee table in the livingroom, as you do. I guess I was focusing on the item to be soldered, I don't know, but somehow I managed to pick up the soldering iron by the wrong end!It hurt... a lot and I immediately dropped the iron, which burned a hole in the carpet! The carpet was literally a few months old, very pale green self-coloured and the hole was right in front on the settee. There was no way you could hide it and we couldn't afford to replace it. What I did was cut a small piece of carpet from an unseen area, cut out the burned bit and glue the good bit in. All very methodically of course, getting the pile the right way etc, and amazingly it worked pretty well! You could see it if you looked but it wasn't noticeable.As for my fingers, they stung like mad for days. After I burned them I immediately went to the fridge, got an ice-lolly and sat melting my burned fingers into it. Went through a couple of lollies and also spent a long time with my fingers under the cold tap. I burned three-fingers and my thumb. The first day or so was a pain as it was hard to hold things in my right hand. Once they scabbed up it wasn't too bad.And the morel is, if you are going to solder in the livingroom, pay attention ;0)

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 08:34:15 pm
content: Quote from: Mr Pig on October 25, 2013, 08:16:50 pmAmazing that the woman of the house would allow a soldering iron anywhere near the living room!And the more complete moral is to pay attention wherever and whenever you are using a soldering iron.

author: aargee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 08:39:22 pm
content: When I was young... about 10? I can't remember... or is that from inhaling lead fumes?

author: Tepe
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 08:40:31 pm
content: 13

author: rexxar
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 08:44:48 pm
content: I must have been 13 or 14. Someone gave me one of those 'cold heat' battery powered irons, and I quickly decided it was utter shit and stole the iron out of my brother's wood burning kit

author: os40la
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 08:55:32 pm
content: Quote from: Mr Pig on October 25, 2013, 08:16:50 pm..... I did the exact same thing...However the burn was behind my entertainment center by the wall and not noticeable. my fingers were not so lucky.

author: SLJ
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:00:09 pm
content: My dad got me my first soldering iron when I was 10. I was busy taking things apart to see how they worked for a couple of years before I started putting things back together.

author: AG6QR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:05:11 pm
content: I honestly don't remember when I first soldered. Probably around 10 or 12? I remember watching my dad solder together a Heathkit television when I was about 6, and being afraid of the smoke and melting metal. I clearly remember soldering connections for a car stereo when I was 16, and by that time, I was practiced and confident in my ability. I'm not quite sure what happened in between, but I at least made plenty of Western Union splices somewhere along the way.

author: mrflibble
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:06:13 pm
content: Something like 9 or 10. About the same age as mucking about with the gas burner (help with stripping paint around the house). Come to think of it, that would have to be 9 then. First soldering was with one of those soldering guns, so awesome precision. ahem. Luckily we also had a crap soldering iron, that was way better!Quote from: SLJ on October 25, 2013, 09:00:09 pmThat sounds awefully familiar. But hey, "Don't turn it on, take it apart!".

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:16:41 pm
content: I was 10 when I was taught to solder by my father. To date I have not burnt myself with a soldering iron and thats 51 years of soldering.

author: Alana
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:21:34 pm
content: First iron - about 7, good old transformer based gun type

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:23:17 pm
content: Six or seven. Though I think I soldered the kitchen table more than what was set on it.... and I seem to remember nicking the nearby curtains once or twiceQuote from: G7PSK on October 25, 2013, 09:16:41 pmI often get myself with it lightly... although I've become so accustomed to this that I react very quickly and don't actually get a lasting burn. Same goes for cooking - I'm awfully clumsy with hot things, but I do manage not to cause anything severe...

author: netdudeuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:40:38 pm
content: 11One of those blue triangular Remploy ones with the built-in light. It was down for ages while I struggled to get a replacement bulb.

author: Mr Pig
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:47:23 pm
content: Quote from: IanB on October 25, 2013, 08:34:15 pmShe did moan about me doing that, both before and after that incident. Yes, I have soldered in the livingroom since. Not often but in my defence I had to put new plugs on the ends of my speaker cables when I changed speakers and, as the cables are under the floor, I had no choice. I haven't burnt myself since, although I do get superglue on my fingers every time I use it! ;0)

author: echen1024
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:50:20 pm
content: Around 5... First with a crap cold heat iron. Then 1 week later my dad bought me a firecracker type

author: Mr Pig
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:52:51 pm
content: I can't believe that some of you were let near a soldering iron aged five! That would never happen here in Scotland.Alcohol and cigarettes, maybe...

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 09:58:59 pm
content: Quote from: Mr Pig on October 25, 2013, 09:52:51 pmOh, you should see all the dangerous things I used at a young age, only some of which my parents knew about... I'm surprised that I still have every body part I started with. Still, I mostly hurt myself on furniture and car doors

author: N2IXK
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2013, 10:20:41 pm
content: First soldering I ever did was in Boy Scouts. Maybe 8 or 9 years old. We were making candle holders/lanterns out of copper sheet, soldered together with heavy duty Weller guns, and one of those huge heavy American Beauty 100-150W things for big joints. Acid paste flux, solid wire and bar solder (probably 50/50).Electronics-related soldering maybe about 9 or 10. Started out desoldering parts (from scrounged TV chassis, etc.) for a few months before actually soldering anything together.First iron was el Cheapo Rat Shack iron. Unregulated, so the tinned copper tip eroded pretty quickly. Had one of their desoldering irons with the rubber bulb, but it was a real POS design, where the aspirated solder would harden inside the long metal tube connected to the bulb, which was nearly impossible to ream out. Only way to clean it was to heat it up with a propane torch, and bang it out when it melted.Got my son started at about age 8, tacking together little sculptures out of scrap wire and castoff components. Now at age 11, he does a fairly good job putting together simple through-hole electronics Kits now.Also taught him how to sweat copper plumbing pipe while redoing my kitchen last year.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2013, 02:58:36 am
content: Similar to everyone else around 6 or 7. Had a big "Gun" iron. But I always took stuff apart to see what's inside. I would frequently base my birthday/Christmas present decisions around items I wanted to take apart.

author: Frenchie
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2013, 04:59:01 am
content: about 9, and then got taught how to do it properly by my grandfather at ~ 10.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2013, 05:59:14 am
content: Can't remember exactly, probably about when I started school. Then I was using an old soldering iron with a tip big enough to do copper pipe with. Must have been around 12-13 when something I built actually worked, or at least worked after my trying to fix it. I must have been around 9 when I discovered how to use an arc welder ( and got my first burns) and made some really lethal and heavy throwing stars out of old lawnmower blades. We never bought the cutters, just cut them out of steel bar stock by the dozens every so often and ground the long side to an edge and drilled a hole for the bolt to attach them to the mower arm. Took a crowbar to get some of them out of the one tree, though I only tried the turpentine tree once, nearly got impaled by the bounce back. You have to respect a tree that termites find too hard to eat, even a chainsaw stalled when cutting more than 5cm into the trunk..

author: mianchen
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2013, 08:06:24 am
content: 11, built a mono tube amp the following year, nearly killed myself when touching the tangled exposed high voltage wires. I stopped playing with electronics at age 17 and didn't go down the path of becoming an engineer.good or bad? Well life have no restart buttons.Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2013, 08:16:23 am
content: When my mom would chop bell peppers as a kid I used to look at the core and say "Mmm! Capacitors!"

author: hedgewallace
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2013, 09:44:26 am
content: I started soldering when i was around 10-11.When i was around 10, i bought a GMC hobby kit, which had a soldering iron, cordless power screwdriver, engraver, and a rotary tool.But I didn't use the soldering iron until i was around 11.I remember looking back at some of my soldering that I would of soldered when i was around 13, and it looked like I was soldering with a rusty nail!

author: nardev
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 26, 2013, 09:52:32 am
content: around 14 but i had huge gaps.. an nobody to teach meat that time internet was not such a good source for me.. maybe because of language too

author: dyazdani
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 26, 2013, 03:58:31 pm
content: Somewhere around 10...assembling ESCs and battery packs for RC cars

author: tsmith35
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2013, 08:30:03 pm
content: Quote from: mianchen on October 26, 2013, 08:06:24 amI learned about high voltages in an interesting way... my dad had a timing light for the car (back when you could actually set the timing mechanically). He always told us not to tough the timing light, since it had a short. Well, here I was by the car one day and the attraction overcame me. Pulled the trigger and ... woke up about 10 feet from the car. Barefoot, of course.Never did that again.

author: lemmegraphdat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2013, 04:35:05 pm
content: So long ago I can't remember. Got burned the other day. Had the iron flat on the bench at work. Reached across to grab something and got my wrist on the barrel of the iron. Mmmm mmmmm.

author: tized
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2013, 09:01:10 pm
content: Between the ages of 7 to 9 I did a bit of soldering here and there with my dad, but he had that big iron which good for electronics. At the age of 10 my dad got me a Conrad electronic soldering station and tough me how to use it properly.I used it to build kits and a few attempts at my own designs, which didn't work very well. Incidentallyat the age of 11 I made my first Commodore 64 give up the blue smoke when trying to make a costume joystick for it.

author: Hydrawerk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2013, 10:14:23 pm
content: I started soldering probably at the age of 7 or so. I used a soldering gun...

author: iceisfun
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2013, 10:18:16 pm
content: Maybe 10? It was a long time ago

author: TMM
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2013, 02:13:17 am
content: Must have been 8 or 9.

author: jhalar
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2013, 02:55:13 am
content: I was 13 when I first started soldering. I remember it well, I burnt a finger and still have the scar.

author: netdudeuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2013, 08:42:03 am
content: Quote from: jhalar on October 29, 2013, 02:55:13 amI managed to burn my foot. A solder ball dropped off the iron, ran down my leg and then cooled on my bare foot. I've probably still got the scar too.

author: ju1ce
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2013, 09:02:03 am
content: I was about 10 years old when I assembled my first electronics kit (multivibrator?) at school. I think our woodworking class had one electronics project per year.

author: Hydrawerk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2013, 11:35:36 pm
content: Yes, in 2003 or so I burned my thumb with my soldering iron. Well, it was cured in two weeks or so. No scar today. But I can still remember the loathly smell of burned skin. Since then I have been more careful.

author: apelly
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 30, 2013, 12:07:14 am
content: I was about 7 or 8. My dad taught me. No idea why he had a soldering iron though. No idea who taught him either; as far as I know he's always been an accountant. Not that it's a difficult skill, but I specifically remember him telling me to heat the joint and apply solder to the joint.

author: Hardcorefs
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2013, 01:12:50 am
content: My parents were quite poor when I was born… all they could afford was a broken pram.This was my first soldering experience…….