Two questions:

Damascus suggested that using a soldering iron is preferred for tinning a shim because the best can be more easily controlled. How does one control the heat when welding to the hook with TIG or MIG processes?

Secondly, Mike said this about peening the hook:
Originally Posted by Der Ami
This is worse than doing nothing.
Other than the general opinion that this is the way a hack would do it, are there functional disadvantages to upsetting the steel to tighten things?

Jim