My buddy swore by using a hairdryer for heat shrink tubing and I thought it was a bad idea

When I was building my first 65% board, my friend Mike told me to just use a hairdryer on the heat shrink on my cable. I was sure you needed a proper heat gun, so I went out and bought one for like $35. Tried it, and it worked fine, but it felt like overkill for one tiny piece of tubing. Next build, I was at Mike's place and he just grabbed his wife's hairdryer, held it close for about 30 seconds, and got a perfect, tight seal. I tried it at home on my next cable and it worked just as well, no burnt fingers or melted wire. Now I feel dumb for buying a tool I barely use. Has anyone else found a simple household item that works better than the 'right' tool for a keyboard job?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylanh8111d ago

Oh man, I did the same thing with a heat gun. Works great but my wife's hair dryer is way less hassle for small jobs. Now the fancy one just collects dust.

riley_garcia11d ago

My buddy Mark bought a pro heat gun for his model trains. He used it twice before his girlfriend's cheap Conair took over. That thing lives on his workbench now, and the expensive gun is still in the box from three years ago. He says the hair dryer is just faster to grab and does the job fine. It's funny how the simple tool wins out most of the time.