Cable ties - your friends when soldering

[Harley]

In difficult to get to places where fingers are either too big and cumbersome or you risk burning your finger, use a cable tie to hold the wire. This works especially well when you have two wires tied together and you want to solder them to a pin - under normal conditions they start to unravel and you end up with a nightmare.

Hanging onto the cable tie is easy and a cinch to guide the wire/s to the right place. In addition, you don't get hot fingers. Just snip the cable tie end when finished or if you really want people to wonder how you ever got to solder that difficult joint, carefully remove the cable/s altogether.

Sorry these pics don't show the soldering iron in action as it's impossible to hold a cell phone camera, solder and hold a cable in one go - however you'll get the idea





Oh, and no smart comments about the heat shrink ok I haven't got around to using the heat shrink gun yet, that's all.

[netwerks]

Yes!

Also alligator clips can be a 2nd pair of hands.

[LelandCrooks]

Nice tip. Never thought of that one.

[jswingchun]

That is a good idea.

I have a couple of these from Harbor Freight. They work well, and are less than $5. I take off the magnifying glass.

[David Carter]

I have a couple of these from Harbor Freight. They work well, and are less than $5. I take off the magnifying glass.

+1. I don't remember where I got mine, but I've got one that came without the magnifying glass, and it's been a big help!

[Harley]

I have a couple of these from Harbor Freight. They work well, and are less than $5. I take off the magnifying glass.

+1. I don't remember where I got mine, but I've got one that came without the magnifying glass, and it's been a big help!

I found they are not as easy as they look to operate and compared to a cable tie, they are not as versatile. Cable ties are much more easy to use in hard to get places.