Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Christopher Howard Newsgroups: sci.electronics.equipment Subject: Re: magnifying glass and helping hands for soldering kid Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:01:18 -0800 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 25 Message-ID: <87zexhm5xt.fsf@librehacker.com> References: <878q52o4af.fsf@librehacker.com> <118bupc$2l2rd$1@dont-email.me> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Injection-Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:01:20 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="3788501"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+kjwetma+M9IcW4Xiwn7D52MQbI5qLpew="; posting-host="3f2931b082c8be28fe15bbade4319008" User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Cancel-Lock: sha1:6tZRPhAon16t4fT1xoc4uQilxO0= sha1:AjOxdnKL0HgCB89yLqVKDq/rH9U= sha256:5BCnN4ADY1IBjkQr1YVCHa5DR7cyiWrFl4VRxZnffdI= sha1:5KKqxGYI5TmtfShAkht92apec5w= sha256:ziRxk8iXzRN5wYoBKjtrhonwA7ILMm1kMxJj6RaZ6vE= Xref: csiph.com sci.electronics.equipment:617 Lane W writes: > Christopher Howard wrote: > Are you sure he really wants to learn soldering? > He really enjoys it so far, and has begged me to let him do extra practice. He did an LED/resistor kit and also a photosensor/transistor project basically all by himself, except I was there to monitor for safety purposes and to give some feedback on his technique. But some of the kits we bought have very small pads, so magnification would be nice. Regarding the helping hands, I've been helping him myself when necessary using a pair of pliers, but he commented that he would prefer to have his own helping hands. He enjoys reading technical manuals and does most of the work assembling our new appliances. He does play around also with some solderless kits like a project board I found at a second-hand store, as well as snap-circuits. I can't say much to a guy with three electrical engineering degrees, but soldering seems to still be a useful skill in my less exalted circles. -- Christopher Howard