Soldering 101 help?

[Demon-Seed]

Hello
I am a newer solder and have been reviewing techniques etc... I am all set to tackle my next project however I found a roll of solder and it says, ROSIN .75mm  44" of it on  a roll.  Now I have been reading and for electronics they suggest ROSIN CORE.. is my roll of ROSIN the same or must it say ROSIN CORE?  Just seeing if I need to buy new stuff...

Also the solder paste you dip your iron into, what does it do? I have seen some use it some do not. From what I have read it helps clean unused solder off your iron?

thanks
Jim

[Desolis]

Your roll of solder should indeed be rosin core. I've never seen anything to the contrary, though I'm by no means a pro when it comes to soldering. the Rosin is just a flux inside the solder itself. My spool only says Rosin on it as well, and it's been serving me well for a while now. Don't know anything about the paste though sorry.

[drventure]

Yeah, most likely it's rosin core solder.

You can, however, get a tub of rosin flux +alone+.

That stuff can be a life saver if you're trying to solder to some sort of metal that won't normally stick to solder, like, say, battery terminals, or chromed bits.

Smear a little rosin flux on it, then solder and it sticks perfectly. Just fyi in case you find yourself trying to solder something where the solder doesn't want to stick.

[Demon-Seed]

Hey
Great! thanks

[MonMotha]

For reference, rosin core solder is probably the most common form of electronic solder you'll find.  Other common types are acid core (used for copper plumbing and never for use with electronics) and no flux (solid core).  You can also get oddball electronic solders with other kinds of flux, but they're not common at retail as they are intended for special applications.

In addition to tubs of rosin flux, you can also get various liquid and paste fluxes for use with electronic soldering.  As drventure said, there are times when this is really handy.