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c/custom-keyboard-builderswesley801wesley8012mo agoProlific Poster

Pro tip: I almost ruined a $400 keyboard case by rushing the soldering job

I was in my garage at 2 AM trying to finish a 75% build for a meetup in Portland, and my hand slipped while soldering the USB-C port. The iron touched the PCB for a full second and I saw a tiny puff of smoke. I thought it was dead, but I used a multimeter to check the traces and managed to bridge the damaged one with a tiny wire. What's the closest call you've had with a soldering iron?
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ellis.ivan
ellis.ivan2mo ago
Ever try using a fiberglass pen for that?
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angela_dixon
My buddy Mark tried one on an old bike frame to remove some rust. He said it worked like a charm, but then he spent the next two days finding tiny fiberglass splinters in his hands. He was picking them out with tweezers while complaining about the itch. Great for the metal, terrible for your skin if you aren't careful.
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camerona79
camerona791mo ago
Yeah, that's the thing with a lot of these quick fixes, right? @angela_dixon's story about Mark is a perfect example of solving one problem but creating another. It feels like modern life is full of these trade-offs where the easy solution has a hidden cost you only find out about later. Makes you wonder what else we're using that's gonna bite us back.
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