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I've been using an old soldering iron for steaming out those pesky little dents and dings that seem to manifest themselves during a build. That old iron was probably older than me, and it finally gave up the ghost about a week ago. I really liked it because it had a broad, wedge-shaped tip -- probably about 3/8" wide. I've been trying to make do with other soldering irons I have, all of which have narrow tips, and they're just not nearly as useful, I've found.

So I took a trip down to a local electronics house, figuring that somebody still had to make the old-style broad-tipped soldering irons. What I found was even better, and priced reasonably to boot:



This tool is primarily meant for various non-soldering tasks, like cutting foam and nylon rope, etc, although it can certainly be used for soldering too. But one of the tips is perfect for steaming out dents and dings:



Works great! Just thought I'd pass along the find to y'all in case any of you might be looking for a better tool for this sort of thing.

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

cool

That's a good one!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

This looks like it could have other uses like fret removal, bridge or fingerboard removal.

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Chris Nielsen
Soquel, CA.

Now that looks like a handy tool!
Thanks for showing it.

Tom

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http://www.moriciguitar.com

Very nice! I love that flat tip.

Thanks for the heads-up, Michael.

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Michael that is genius. Thank you.

I don't like using a large cloths iron (all I have, no soldering iron) for steaming out dents. This is a great idea.

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Thanks, guys. I'm sure pleased with it.

Hey Chris, that's a great observation. I reckon one of the other tips could be modified for something like you suggest. Probably wouldn't be all that difficult, far as that goes, to make a tip for bridge/fingerboard removal, etc.

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

Thanks for the tip Michael!