Posted by Kim Edwards on August 09, 2003 at 17:47:25:
Hi,
I am fairly new to stained glass after taking a class and recently bought all the supplies to do it at home. My problem is that the barrel of my iron has become discolored and the tip now has some black rusty crud on it that I can't get removed and it won't stay tinned. Not only that, but it's leaving black chunks in my solder joints when I use it. This pretty much started right after I soldered zinc, so I'm wondering if that has something to do with it. However, my iron was only used a few times before this so I'm also wondering if there is something I've been doing wrong. And how can I get my tip clean again, or do I have to get a new one? Thanks for any help.