Alright so my problem is that I really want to solder and stuff, but my parents dont want me because they dont think it is safe. Not about being safe in the way that I might burn myself (I dont want coldheat), but the fact that solder has lead and stuff in it.

Are there any GOOD solutions for this. I have read about a couple, but heard they arent good.

Any suggestions?

My personal opinion is that they've no worries at all about you doing some soldering. Wear eye protection and use adequate ventilation and the lead problem becomes not a problem at all insofar as I'm concerned. Have them ask your family physician about the possible health problems associated with a little soldering since most people will listen to a doctor of medicine. Just my two cents. I think it's a great skill to learn.

Thanks

You can also buy a fume extractor to be on the safe side.

http://cgi.ebay.com/XYTRONIC-426DLX-BENCH-...VQQcmdZViewItem

You guys still have lead in solder ???

wow

I've stockpiled a load in the garage (60% Tin 40% Lead) from before they banned it here. I prefer to solder with it as it melts at a lower temp to this new stuff.

All I can buy now is either: 99.3% tin & 0.7% copper or 4% silver 95.5% tin & 0.5% copper.

Hmm... where was I... oh yeah ...... just tell them you can get solder without lead content !! Although the old stuff never did me any harm & I've been tinkering for over 20 years.

Home of the free. Land of of brave.

We're slowly but surely losing many freedoms but we can still buy leaded solder. It's the little things in life that matter.

Edit: A HazMat/SWAT team has just been dispatched to your garage.

/me stashes the solder supplies

It's all due to the silly European Union directive's...... belgian beurocrats getting in the way of me poisioning myself with lead fumes..... how dare they

God forbid people try and save the enviroment by making you spend an extra half a millisecond melting solder

Buy lead free solder. Its more expensive, but unless you're going to try to solder like pipes together the cost of solder is almost negligible.

Silver solder isn't nearly as nice to work with as lead based solder... it's do-able (and more so if you're used to soldering), but it's a pain in the arse to learn with. And from what I gather, people aren't worried about the environment (as far as the solder is concerned), it's the fumes that are given off during the soldering process. If you live in California, for instance, it apparently can cause cancer there. Fortunately, I don't live in California...



Anyway, to the OP - if your parents are really concerned about it, you can buy silver based solder, usually at the same price as 60/40 solder - it's just harder to learn with.

I think everything causes cancer in california, even BBQ's (im not kidding, i saw it on a grill at a store once).