Posted by Rick Denney on August 29, 2001 at 10:43:02:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Yes, they do have an effect... posted by Chuck Jackson on August 28, 2001 at 20:51:26:
Heh, heh. One thing about mass: The more of it there is, the more it takes to heat, and the longer it holds the heat. I took the valve cap and the monsterweight and layed them joint-side up on a brick. I heated the cap, fluxed, and then tinned it in a couple of spots with 60-40. Then, I played the torch over the joint side of the weight, fluxed, and continued heating until my arm got tired. Eventually, that sucker got hot enough to melt the solder, and I tinned it in a couple of spots. I then took a pair of large pliers, and turned the weight over onto the valve cap. I applied a little heat, and the tinned spots flowed and the weight settled onto the cap. I then fed solder into the side of the joint until I had a nice fillet around the edge. The torch was no longer needed after that. I held the weight down from the center with the backside of the pliers, and wiped the joint fillets with a rag to clean them up and remove any excess. I then dribbled water onto the hot weight until the water no longer boiled, which told me it was at least below 212 degrees. I could then handle them with gloves. I polished up the joints on a buffer. The whole thing took about half an hour.
If I was a pro, I'd be more accustomed to dealing with hot parts and less afraid of burning myself. I might have been tempted to think that these weights would cool as quickly as normal instrument parts. So I was probably protected by timidity born of the lack of experience. And that hole in the carpet of the room I used to use (before marriage) for such projects taught me something valuable, too.
I didn't do a good job of marking where I wanted them to go, however, and they don't line up well. For the photo, I loosened them so they were all nicely aligned. That's the difference between me and a pro--a pro wouldn't have made that mistake. And I didn't realize that Mark machined one side smoother than the other, and a few of them show bandsaw marks on the exposed side instead of machining marks. Again, my mistake. I can live with it, heh, heh.
Rick "who learns from experience--slowly" Denney