Hi Brad, we’ve been using a soldering iron with a light dimmer
switch for 20 + years to do our “treeing” we use a bigger tip at
low power and allows us to make a hole in the tree quickly and
the correct size for the sprues we are using.And you are right,
fitted with a small tip does wonders. I also have a device that i
made with a small 3 volt power supply(left over from some gadget)
a small momentary switch from Radio Shock…and a high temp (very
thin ) heating element wire bent almost in two… all wired into
a home made handle . the momentary switch is at your finger tip.
In this manner, when you need to go inside an area normally not
accessible with an iron for a repair in wax… you can go there
with this tool stone cold … touch the spot and touch the switch
and you have an instant hot tip that will repair the area.
release the switch and the wire is stonecold again nearly
instantaneously which allows you to exit without damaging the
piece. This can be very handy for a person who has shaky hands .I
have recently added a potentiometer so that i can keep the wire
at any selected temp if i don’t want to use the on/off function.
Great for inside a stone setting! Daniel Grandi workshop Photos
http://racecarjewelry.com/page03.html