TS100 Soldering Iron Grip Preview
I plan on putting this up on Thingiverse as a non-commercial license STL file and adding some to the store.
The pictured design is too long, the tip of the soldering iron gets hot enough to transfer the heat to the grip, so the revised design will only be about an inch in length (~40% of pictured length).
It does act as a stand as well, the shape is a heptagon, so it catches the surface the soldering iron is on and stops it from rolling.
Hold on; I’m sorry but that transparent case is so cool 
I do like the idea of a grip that can lay on itself since the TS100 doesn’t fit a lot of soldering iron holder/stands.
I’m looking forward to this!
You can get the transparent cases online!
It’s nice because you can see the tip clip into the case.
There’s actually a fair bit of empty space in the case, I think there’s a TS80 or TS200 prototype that shrinks the shell down even further and has a USB power source for running the iron.
There’s also firmware on Github where you can customize the TS100 further, but I haven’t looked into it yet.
Frankly, I’d be happy with a case that just prevents two buttons being pressed unintentionally while soldering. Two raised horizontal edges, one above and one below, should help.
Interesting.
Let me tinker with it, I wonder if I could make a thinner replacement button that recessed into the case and took a little more force to actually press.
Cool. Pressing the button usually happens while using a non-symmetric tip because I sometimes have to rotate the soldering iron to position the tip just right while soldering. I suppose it makes more sense to rotate the board but that’s not that easy with cluttered workspace.
These are the latest pics of the TS100 grip, it flares outward slightly so the iron rests at a slight upward angle however you sit it down on your bench.
Recessed Slim Button pics coming soon!
Here’s a slimmer button design, I’ll test it this week and see if I can get it to be even with the case so it takes more pressure to actually change the soldering iron temp and other settings.
I’m going to try a DIY solution using caulk this weekend:
Butt ugly for sure but should solve both problems.
I really like what I’m seeing on this thread.
One of the reasons why I love the TS100 (thanks @Manofinterests for the recommendation) is the great community this solder iron has. On top of all the stuff that people have already done (like the custom firmware which I strongly recommend, or the 3D printed cases), the idea of having custom parts made to improve the solder iron is very interesting.
I’ll definitely have to keep an eye on this project.
TS100 Grip V02 - now with more notches
It also has an alignment notch that lines up with the bottom of the iron so the grip can’t spin, even if it is loose.
are they projects for 3d printing?
KMK Labs,
Yep! I’m optimizing these for SLA printing. I’m not sure if FDM printing could print parts this small with enough detail.
If my batch turns out tomorrow, then I should have an almost done TS100 grip and some recessed buttons (first button batch was ~1mm too short).
The grip also functions to replace the soldering iron stand.
Here’s the new updated grip and buttons on an actual TS100 (this is actually a Pro32, which is a rebranded TS100 by Sainsmart).
The buttons recess around ~0.5mm to 1mm into the case and I thought they wouldn’t work, but when I assembled the iron, I realized they just require pressure centered over the button, so they work perfectly.
You can actually hold the iron around the buttons and they won’t press unless you squeeze it very tightly.
The updated grip is pointier and the bottom is trimmed to make sure it’s flat so you can set the iron down and it doesn’t rotate easily. The pattern is a bit like knurling where it’s made to grip into your fingers to it doesn’t slip while soldering.
Edit: Renders below for slightly clearer idea of the texturing and shape:
Yep, I am putting the finishing touches on the grip and I’ll put it on my website.
They sell the replacement shells for $8 - $16 online, so I’ll have to calculate how much resin these parts use to print and I’ll probably price a grip and two or three recessed buttons as a kit for a similar price.
I will non-commercial license this as well on Thingiverse if people have the means to print it at home and want to try that. For smaller items that I design I plan on licensing them non-commercial and perhaps work on a Patreon if people want to tip me for design work.
Thank you, that is very kind of you. I will get the parts from you and would also be interested in contributing to Patreon so let us know when you set that up.
Hi! I know I’m a bit late to the train, but have you managed to upload these on thingiverse or somewhere else? I really liked those designs and would like to try and print a few of them. Cheers!
