Vintage Soldering Irons (Drake)

lilredex · Jul 27, 2018

Saw this iron FS on Kijiji and thought it was interesting and in very good shape for its age. If you are in the Ottawa area.......it is yours for $20.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1372613167

In my search of irons, I found this site that also might be of interest (Weller).

https://stevenjohnson.com/soldering/guns.htm

mrtoolfool · Jul 28, 2018

lilredex said:
In my search of irons, I found this site that also might be of interest (Weller).

https://stevenjohnson.com/soldering/guns.htm

Cool site, Thanks.

May favorite gun of all time is the Wen 199. It heats up very quickly. I have 2 of them I use regularly and have 3 spares.

6PTsocket · Jul 28, 2018

I have newer stuff but I keep my old Heathkit/ GE soldering station on the bench. GE made the iron with 3 different wattage tips, that screw into a wood handle. It is a low voltage iron so there was a transformer with a few binding posts to change the voltage for more or less heat. Heathkit streamlined it by installing a transformer in a metal case with a rotary switch to select high, medium or low for the GE iron and a soldering iron holder with a protective cage mounted on top, adding a pilot light and making it into a proper soldering station. It is model GH17. When I was hired as an electronic tech, a long time ago, my first assignment was to assemble one of those kits to be my iron. I liked it so much I bought one for home use. The 3 different wattage element/ tips are now almost impossible to find but the stations are on ebay.

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Billythekid1 · Jul 28, 2018

American beauty look it up

Stuart in MN · Jul 28, 2018

Billythekid1 said:
American beauty look it up

I have a couple large American Beauty irons I got from my dad, I also have my mother's old American Beauty clothes iron from the 1940s, like this one. It still works fine and I use it all the time.

ttpete · Jul 28, 2018

Billythekid1 said:
American beauty look it up

I have several American Beauty irons. Biggest one is 300 watts.

Bobber828 · Mar 14, 2021

Cleaning out some stuff in my shop, I ran across an unused tip for a wen soldering gun No. 288, part No. 28C4 in the original paper envelope, price 60 cents. Rather than toss it, I will give it to someone who needs it for postage, which would be $4.00. Any one in need? You can still buy these online for $9.99 plus $5 postage.