Hm, everybody has his own solution. I happily use an old Weller gun or
small butane torch for putting a PL-259 onto an RG-8 size cable, as I
have for decades. I keep the cable straight so the center conductor ends
up where it belongs when the insulation cools. I never use PL-259s for
RG-58 or RG-59 size cable anymore -- I always use BNC instead. I've got
a box full of adapters to use whenever I need to connect to anything
else. Both BNC connectors and BNC-to-anything adapters are readily
available on eBay. Actually, I don't use RG-8 size cable very often, and
recently I've been putting N connectors on it when I do.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL