Using Jewelers Soldering Tweezers

A couple of years ago I changed my soldering pick to a tweezer/pick combination.

Basically, I made the two ends of the tweezer pick ends.

So now they act like a fine tweezer and also as two picks.

The advantage for me is that I can pick up the un-melted solder and then place it exactly where I want it and then I use one side of the tweezer as a pick for soldering.

Using a tweezer this way meant that the tip had to be made of a metal that does not solder and has a high melting point.
So for instance, aluminum is out because it might not solder, but it would melt.

I found using titanium tips worked OK but my best was using niobium tips.

The niobium becomes brittle after some time ( this is because it absorbs oxygen) but since I never bend them they seem to last a few years for me.

Also what I do is to place my solder in position and then while I heat the piece to soldering temperature, I hold one tip on the solder, which then acts as a heat sink and stops the solder from over heating.

And funnily enough, I thought the glue would for sure burn, but it has never even come close to getting hot.

The tweezers shown are about five years old with daily use.

The next most common tweezers that are used are spring tweezers.

Very disposable and very cheap. ($1.50 on Amazon, at the time of writing )

They come in a straight ends as well as the bent ends shown in the picture.

The problem with standard spring tweezers is that they often hold with too much strength.

I made a modification that solves that problem.

I took a self locking tweezer and filed the points a bit sharper and then bent them upwards.

Now when I solder a very delicate piece, I can adjust the strength of the holding power from strong to very weak.

OK, so this picture is posed, but you get the drift of how they work.

These locking head shank tweezers are pretty specific in their use and I only use them from time to time. them.

But when I need them, they are absolutely the perfect tool to have.

Also with a slide and lock mechanism, they are the perfect tool for when that collet has to be positioned just so and soldered.

I mention these ring soldering tweezers because I have used them on occasion.

Sometimes a round wire ring will be difficult to hold with conventional spring tweezers and then these are the easier choice.

I keep them on my tool list because of 'just in case'.