Do smoldering irons only work if you have a smoldering gun?

Question

Or are they hand-held with a cord for the outlet (some are cordless, I know) and heat up on their own?

I've never bought one and am curious right now. I was looking at this:
http://www.hakkousa.com/detail.asp?CID=49,118&PID=2493&Page=1

Answer 1

You mean soldering.

Guns and irons are just different shapes. Guns are as you might guess shaped like a pistol. Irons come in several styles.

What you have pictured is a Hakko pencil iron. Hakko is a good brand but a little more expensive. You don't say what you want to solder. That Hakko is suitable for most electronic work. Beware of the cordless for electronics work.

You can email me if you want a more detailed discussion.

Answer 2

You mean soldering. The difference between a soldering iron and a soldering gun is essentially in the shape. An iron is a wand and held more or less like a pencil, and usually once you plug it in, it heats up and stays heated until you unplug it. A soldering gun is shaped, well, like a gun and you press a trigger to get the heat going. The tip of a soldering gun tends to heat up and cool down fast, so it's good for jobs where you'll be doing short solders, usually on small stuff. Which one you buy will depend on what you'll be doing with it. I do stained glass work, where a gun is useless. An iron can provide a wider tip and more steady heat for long seams, but then the one in your link appears to have a tiny tip which would be useful for some applications. I have a soldering iron that I can put a smaller or larger tip into, depending what I'm doing with it.

Answer 3

Do you mean SOLDERING, and not smoldering?



You can solder with "soldering guns" or with "soldering irons". The little irons in your link look like the kinds often used for soldering on printed circuit boards. Soldering guns are often used for more heavy-duty soldering of wires, since they put out more heat (they also would burn out transisters and heat-susceptible parts faster, too). Which one you use would probably depend on what you want to solder, and how big of an area needs to be heated up.