Soldering Iron Stand (908S)

This summer our church is running a week-long electronics boot camp. We are opening it up to 20 young people, who will learn to solder and troubleshoot as they build a two-player electronic reaction game. As a small church with very limited resources, we are running it on a limited budget, and so all the tools and materials are very cost sensitive. The 908S temperature-controlled 80W soldering irons we sourced from Aliexpress are impressive, working really well and at a very low price (under £6 each), but at the price point unsurprisingly didn't include even a rudimentary stand.

But I wouldn't be happy with a rudimentary stand anyway; safety is very important - for the well-being of the young people, and for making sure our church building doesn't get burned down! Unfortunately most of the cheap soldering iron holders I've looked at are not good - they are too small or flimsy, unstable, or leave the hot iron very close to (or even touching) plastic parts. So here is my effort to design a soldering iron stand that would meet the following criteria:

• Comfortably and securely hold a 908S soldering iron
• Be solid and heavy enough to be very stable
• Have a good, refractory surface - transferring no heat to the plastic folding tables we are using
• Keep the hot part far away from 3D printed plastic
• Provide for a damp sponge for tip cleaning
• Be inexpensive and easy to make

The design is a thin, easy-to-print (no supports required) model. The base is designed to be filled with cement - I just mix plain cement powder with a little water, stir it until smooth and fill the 10mm base with the mix. A little vibration helps the cement to flow into all the corners, and prevents bubbles; in this thickness, plain portland cement without sand or aggregate sets useably hard within about 12 hours. The cement provides mass, solidity and stability, and a surface that can take the heat of a soldering iron with no problem. The sponges I'm using were £6 for 30 from Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soldering-Sponge-Cleaning-Solder-Welding/dp/B08XBLK7JG) - they are 55mm x 38mm x 5mm thick when wet, which is the size of the sponge well. Don't fill that bit with cement.

I am very pleased with how they have turned out, and I hope that the design will be useful for others. It will print well in the supplied orientation; no supports should be required. I think it looks nice with the ‘fuzzy skin’ setting, but that's just aesthetics.