Seeking Soldering Masters

[Noah Lane]

I'll say that even if Bob and DKS do not agree, it doesn't matter a damn bit. You are obviously both incredible craftsman.

Thanks again!

[SebastianLee]

Got gobs of money to toss around?  You can replace the rail in unitrack with flex track rail.  This would give you up to 3' sections of unitrack, and reduce the number of drops..  Pencil boxes and a sharpie will save you some headache if you want to keep your old rails.

[Kentuckian]

This was a great question, with some great answers. I learned a lot, which is one reason I am here.  Thank you all.

[fifer]

You may want to take a look here as well as all of the great advice so far.

Thanks , Mike

[Noah Lane]

Thanks, Mike.  This is a great tutorial.

I had actually watched this video previously in my quest for soldering knowledge.

[fifer]

Thanks Noah , I hope it helped.
Mike

[mark.hinds]

This is an excellent article.  Read specifically what he recommends for liquid flux, which is Superior No. 30 Supersafe Solderling Flux, available here: http://www.ccis.com/home/hn/page22.html

I've used this for decades (gel) and it is the out-and-out BEST flux for brass, NS, tin, copper that there is...PERIOD.

All this other Radio Shack, rosin, blah blah blah stuff, is inferior to Supersafe No. 30 Flux....way inferior.

Wanna be a soldering master?  Using Supersafe No. 30 flux will get you about 90% there.

Supersafe sounds like an interesting flux, assuming that there is adequate evidence as to its chemical stability for electrical connections (essentially needs to last forever) .

However, I have always distinguished between rosin paste fluxes for electrical, and acid liquid fluxes for mechanical (as in your caboose picture).  You seem to have the impression that all of us were recommending rosin flux for the mechanical stuff.  That was not the case for my post, as I was addressing only the track feeder issue. 

MH