Here is a soldering bit (commonly misreferred to as a soldering iron) that is used for uniting two pieces of metal together via flow of solder (soft solder such as tin/lead/bismuth alloys) . Before electric ones there were simply copper bits that were heated in charcoal fire and then later on in the later 1800s and going into the 1900's there were the gasoline, kerosene blow torches.

This is a hatchet shaped variety meant to be worked between two seams that would allow the solder to pull between them.

The copper bit for this tool was forged from a vintage soldering bit that I got off of ebay. It was a rather large one and was probably used for soldering copper roofing or other tin plate. I was able to get 3 working bits out of it. The stem of this soldering tool is also made from the very same stem that the copper bit was originally fixed onto, I couldn't let that material go to waste.

The handle is made from sassafras wood and the ferrule is one of the few I had made before.