MOTM

In a message dated 7/5/2000 2:49:02 PM, andy@... writes:

>Do I need a heat gun to shrink the tubing? 
>Can I use something else, 
>like passing the soldering iron nearby?

I've done this, but you seem to need a lot of heat, and I always end up touch 
the heat shrink tubing with it. You may want to try the lighter idea too, 
though I'd do it outside due to the bad smoke stuff.

>Is there a lot of heat shrinking done in 
>the other kits that would justify buying a quality heat gun?

That's the real question. Of all the kits that used heat shrink tubing, the 
900 is the one that LEAST NEEDS A HEAT SHRINK GUN, IMHO. That's because your 
not heating anything too close to a sensitive electronic component (like a 
pot). The first kits that Paul shipped only had the one kind of pot (PCB 
mounted) which were a bit of a challenge to get the wires connected properly. 
He may now be using only solder lug pots for the non-PCB mounted pots. Look 
at some of your other kits to see if you need to attach wires to a pot and 
see how the instructions say to do it. If they say use heat shrink tubing 
then buy a gun -- it will be worth it. The MOTM 110 would be a good kit to 
look at if you've got one. And before you go out and buy a HS gun, look in 
any thrift shop that has a fair selection of tools (I walked by a yard sale 
yesterday and I think the guy had two or three he was selling, they are 
fairly common).

JB