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Tools of the Trade!
Here is a list of suggested items to make the most out of your BEAMing experience!
- Hot glue gun - The higher the wattage, the quicker it is ready to use! there are different sizes available, I would personally go for the ones which accept the bigger glue sticks.
- Decent Soldering Iron - Heating up time isn't the issue here, you need it to remina a decent heat to solder quickly and efficiently. Mine is 25 Watts and that seems fine for me. Make sure also that the supplier has a good range of replaceable tips, you don't want to have to buy a whole new iron!
- Soldering Iron stand with sponge - Cheaper irons come with a rubbish metal stand that you 'prop' the iron onto.... not very safe! You need a good sturdy holder which also has a sponge for wiping the hot tip onto.
- Handy Man - These little stands with their crocodile clips are extremely useful when soldering fiddly parts. the handy man will hold them in place while you solder. This is also very important when the parts get too hot to handle! I got mine from Maplin.co.uk, where its called Heavy Duty Helping Hands.
- A good lamp - ideally moveable to light whereever you are soldering, also very useful for testing your solar powered robots!
- Small screwdrivers - Perfect for dismantling all those toys which have useful motors in!
- Security Bit Set - Very useful for undoing those specialised screws
- A good set of pliars - including needlenose, wire clippers, and wire strippers
- Epoxy Glue - Hot glue isn't strong enough for heavy duty appliucation, such as gluing legs onto a walker, you will need stronger glue in those instances.
- Solid core 22 gauge wire - I find it is easier to use solid core for most applications, however if you have a moving part, then you may require the flexibility of stranded core.
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