Not violent, just handy.

The Soldering Gun Courtesy Mike Warren

Mike Warren, an editor at DIY website instructables.com, wanted a tool that was fun and unusual for projects that require soldering electronics. His solution? Disassemble a 15-watt soldering iron and install it in the gutted body of an air-pellet gun. He replaced the iron’s power switch so that pulling the gun’s trigger would turn it on and off and hollowed out the magazine with a rotary tool to make room for a battery pack. To prevent shorts, he covered the exposed electrical leads with heat-shrink tubing and threaded them through the gun’s barrel. Warren’s soldering gun reaches 365°F in about seven seconds. He has already used it to wire a 360-degree camera into a hat.

Click here for a step-by-step guide.

Want to read more articles like this, plus tips and tricks, home hacks, DIY projects, and more? Subscribe to Popular Science today, for less than $1 per issue!

4 Comments

Kind of awkward getting into tight spots where it's often used in electronics. I don't think too much demand for one except terrorists who will find a use for anything shaped like a gun.

comon pop sci ^^ its not that stuff isnt useful but cant you cover once in a while some breakthroughs like: 1st stable quantum network Or 1st practical quantum silicon qubit ... ?

---
bored? lets go mine the stars... ^^

or the new feasability of the warp drive... anyway... just passing by... not telling how you should do your job...

---
bored? lets go mine the stars... ^^

Is this a bizarre joke, which the inventor wants to shoot some 'HOT LED', at the bad guy?

I find this a stupid useless tool or a lame joke.

Popular Tags

Regular Features


140 years of Popular Science at your fingertips.



Popular Science+ For iPad

Each issue has been completely reimagined for your iPad. See our amazing new vision for magazines that goes far beyond the printed page



Download Our App

Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone or Android phone with full articles, images and offline viewing



Follow Us On Twitter

Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed


February 2013: How To Build A Hero

Engineers are racing to build robots that can take the place of rescuers. That story, plus a city that storms can't break and how having fun could lead to breakthrough science.

Also! A leech detective, the solution to America's train-crash problems, the world's fastest baby carriage, and more.



Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email

Contributing Writers:
Clay Dillow | Email
Rebecca Boyle | Email
Colin Lecher | Email
Emily Elert | Email

Intern:
Shaunacy Ferro | Email

circ-top-header.gif
circ-cover.gif
bmxmag-ps