Need soldering iron recommendation

[John K Jordan]

I'd also recommend getting one with a heat gun option. You will find yourself using more heat shrink than before.

I use a lot of heat shrink tubing but I like a separate heat gun for other uses as well. (melting beeswax for finishes at the lathe, etc.)

I have several but I found this mini heat gun, real cheap and has plenty of heat for small jobs:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003N3G4WY

JKJ

[Raymond Fries]

Great suggestions everyone. Thanks.

Had not thought about the heat gun. I have one that I use for monocote on my R/C planes and will have to see if it is OK for heat shrink tubing.

[Dave Lehnert]

Great suggestions everyone. Thanks.

Had not thought about the heat gun. I have one that I use for monocote on my R/C planes and will have to see if it is OK for heat shrink tubing.

Heat gun does not have to be fancy.
At my last job they supplied us with a heavy duty gun like this. last a lifetime but was too heavy to use all day.
http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/...g&gclsrc=aw.ds

So a lot of us purchased a lighter weight cheap gun from Harbor Freight. They would only last us at work for a year or less. It has lasted for a few years in my limited use at home.
http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-wa...112-96289.html

I now use a Porter Cable Heat gun at my job and it works very well. Great gun at a great price. Use it most every day.
https://www.amazon.com/PORTER-CABLE-..._d_product_top

[John K Jordan]

Had not thought about the heat gun. I have one that I use for monocote on my R/C planes and will have to see if it is OK for heat shrink tubing.

You don't need much for most heat shrink. For years I just used the side of the soldering iron near the base of the tip - not especially pretty but no one was critiquing. I've used a butane lighter as well - the long nozzle kind they sell these days are perfect but I don't think they made those in the 70s.

I didn't read all the posts, but in case they were not mentioned a few additional things really help with the electronics, in no particular order. If you lived close I might lend you all of these.

- small vise, some are made just for soldering and small circuit boards
- a "Helping Hand" with alligator clips with or without magnifier
- a solder sucker, or a bit of copper wick to unsolder things
- several sizes of good rosin core solder - I prefer ultra fine solder for little stuff.
- some liquid flux remover solvent and small brush for cleanup
- a good multimeter to test components before installing and debug circuits when done.
- a set of tiny heat sink clamps for protecting heat-sensitive components
- a conductive pad or work surface for static-sensitive components

I'm making the possible assumption that you are a beginner at this. If you already know all this, then sorry, nevermind! But if you are not experienced with soldering and working on electronics (or if someone else reading isn't) don't hesitate to ask. I, and I'm sure many others here, have been designing and building circuits and boards and things for decades. The computer memory boards I put together in the 70s had 1434 solder connections on each card! Good practice. BTW, if you are NOT experienced with soldering, I highly recommend getting some wires, maybe junk components, and a piece of tinned assembly board and practice a bunch before working on your project. Anyone in your area that plays with electronics would probably gladly give you things to practice on and some instruction if needed. A local Makers club is also a great resource. You can unsolder components from a junk board and practice soldering them back. And you can buy soldering practice kits on Amazon as a last resort.

Successful soldering is a skill involving a dance between the component/board/wires, solder, and soldering iron to get just enough but not too much heat and solder at just the right time. "Cold" solder joints, that might look OK but are not robustly conductive, are probably the biggest problem. I can't tell you how many things I've fixed where someone didn't practice soldering before starting on a project.

JKJ