Product Review

Weller transforms hand soldering The art of hand soldering has been around for a very, very long time, thousands of years in fact. But it was only until 1941 that a transformer based instant heating soldering method was developed by an impatient American radio repairman who was tired of sitting around waiting for his soldering gun to heat up. Carl E. Weller had to wait until after WWII ended in 1945 to get his Weller Manufacturing Company going. In 1960, the Weller Manufacturing Co. in the US patented the “Magnastat” soldering iron which used a magnetic component to regulate the temperature at the iron’s tip. In an expansion overseas beginning in 1959, the Weller ElektroWerkzeuge GmbH plant in Besigheim, Germany, along with new plants in other countries, was organized to manufacture temperature controlled irons and soldering guns for primarily industrial mar­kets throughout Europe and the Near East. Keeping pace with the increasing complexity of our customers’ needs, Weller Ger­many be­came the market leader for developing and manufacturing hand soldering products worldwide. Our products were proudly emblazoned with “Made in Germany”, signifying innovation and reliability.