RE: [CR]replacing spoke on tied/sodered wheel

(Example: Framebuilders:Brian Baylis)

Content-class: urn:content-classes:message
Subject: RE: [CR]replacing spoke on tied/sodered wheel
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:52:40 -0500
In-Reply-To: <6FA11A21-E71E-4248-AF88-FD966F714C52@earthlink.net>
Thread-Topic: [CR]replacing spoke on tied/sodered wheel
Thread-Index: AcckZhfIO+WyjeBTRLCqL4ZKuysCVwABySRA
From: "Bingham, Wayne" <WBINGHAM@imf.org>
To: "CR RENDEZVOUS" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>


Art -

In the absence of Spoke-Be-Gone, which might be hard to find in your area, there are at least two "professional" methods to removing solder. One is a "solder sucker" (actual product and term used in the industry), which is a small, hand-held, spring-loaded vacuum device that literally sucks the molten solder off the desired parts. There are numerous such devices on the market, for as little as $4 or $5, and up to maybe $15. They are marvelous little devices too. The other method is a product called Solder Wick, which is essentially braided copper wire that is used to "wick" or lift the molten solder off the desired parts. Little spools of solder wick are available for probably less than $2. However, I can give you a quick and easy home solution that will probably do the trick. Find a piece of coaxial (video, RF) cable and strip off the outer jacket. Under the jacket and around the insulating core and solid center conductor, are braided copper wire strands. Clip off a section, slide it off the insulator and flatten it. You can now use that to wick away the offending solder where needed. It doesn't work as well as pro solder wick (it's much finer, so won't "pull" as well), but will probably suffice.

Good luck.

Wayne Bingham (one-time soldering iron jockey and audio wire sculptor) Lovettsville VA USA