The Doctor Is In, Episode Four - soldering

[@vbros7]

I used to think I knew how to solder. Thanks Doc. Love the calming music as well. Nice touch.

[@scotts4904]

thanks for posting. In particular the camera work was excellent and really detailed what is happening at the joint. As a novice I found that practicing on a junk component (broken goodwill receiver) allowed me to play around with temps, actually overheat boards to figure out how much is too much etc. Yes on the safety glasses!

[@bottleheadaudio]

That is indeed a great way to practice your soldering. My first soldering project was a cheapo Emerson receiver I found abandoned on an apartment building stoop when I was 15. Ben Rupp is a talented videographer. His day gig involves shooting surgical procedures so he knows how important it is to capture the fine details.

[@chrisbarnhart7944]

Really good Doc!.. love the intro as well.. :)

[@bottleheadaudio]

Thank you! I dig the intro too, was fun to produce. The theme song is my ring tone now.

[@pitchforkharp]

Delightfully soothing background music.

[@bottleheadaudio]

Thank you! The theme song and music bed were composed and performed by my dear old friend Art Khu. Art is a go-to jazz pianist in the Bay Area and the music director of Jacqui Naylor's Trio.

[@pitchforkharp]

@@bottleheadaudio Going immediately to consume their catalog all day. Thanks!

[@shaftwood]

The Cardas Quad Eutectic supposedly contains around 3% silver. However, people seem to love the way it flows and, like you said in your video, it is highly regarded in the audio community. According to the specs, its melting range is 364-384 ºF which is a little higher than the 361 ºF melting point of the tin/lead eutectic. Would you still recommend the Cardas Quad Eutectic to assemble a SE eXperimenter's amplifier kit? Thank you Doc. I just don't want to make a mistake with the solder.

[@bottleheadaudio]

Yup, the Quad Eutectic is very easy to work with even though it contains a fairly high silver content.

[@Unknown-bp8mx]

thank you very much

[@bottleheadaudio]

You are welcome!

[@bottleheadaudio]

I should add that one should wash their hands after working with tin/lead solder.

[@bucketofguts]

Who makes the light/ magnifier you are using? Thank you very much. That is quite the R2R collection you have. Thank you!

[@bottleheadaudio]

I'm not near that magnifier at the moment to check the brand, but it was ordered from Amazon. In general I have found the bigger the lens the easier they are to use. Re the tapes, one of the benefits of old age is having acquired collectables back when they were considered throwaways.

[@bucketofguts]

Thank you Doc!

[@2002holland]

Private individuals can't buy lead solder in the UK so we use a near eutectic copper silver tin blend with high flux

[@bottleheadaudio]

You have my sympathy. That solder is more difficult to work with. High tip temps help.

[@ChaseHub]

nice vid makes me wanna buy a premade kit cuz theres people that'd do a better job

[@bottleheadaudio]

Don't sell yourself short. Anyone can do a nice job on these by taking their time and following the directions. And - it's fun!

[@ChaseHub]

@@bottleheadaudio Just bought a soldering iron, cardas solder, flux, and wick. Lets get it.

[@TheRealWindlePoons]

@@bottleheadaudio Absolutely top class directions bar none (and writing manuals for custom machinery is part of my day job). Here's a pair I built earlier: goo.gl/photos/WJfVtPVYz2ic6R4z5