Ok...now I'm jealous!

[Xam]

My younger son decided he wanted to try soldering tonight. I say...ok...what's the worse that can happen? I may have to go back and smooth out some solder.
Well...as it turns out, he kicks my butt at soldering. He used a minimal amount of solder, got full coverage and made the solder look smooth as silk. 
It took me years to get to my meager solder skills and the boy picks it up immediately.   Must have to do with the artist in him.

Xam

[Naru]

It is a lot like holding a pencil or paintbrush
so the artist in him probably did feel at home.
Good thing he didn't get burnt. Ha ha, I hate
it when that happens.

[SavannahLion]

He learned from the parent, watched how parent screwed up, then decided to avoid screwing up like parent.

You did a good job raising him thus far, why are you complaining?

[MaximRecoil]

Soldering came naturally to me too, and I am a natural artist (drawing mostly), though I don't draw very often because it is tedious.

However, I also had a $500 Metcal MX-500 soldering iron to learn on (the handle is amazingly ergonomic with the shortest "tip-to-grip" distance in the business, making it very much like using a pen or pencil), professionals to teach me, and 1000 PCB's a night to "practice" on -- i.e., I worked in a PCB factory, inspecting and soldering boards.

[shorthair]

Xam, any time someone in your sphere can do something better than you, it's a sign to make - um, let them do it.

[Xam]

It is a lot like holding a pencil or paintbrush
so the artist in him probably did feel at home.
Good thing he didn't get burnt. Ha ha, I hate
it when that happens.

Yup...I been burned once or ten times...
My older son got a burn when I was desoldring a wire...the wire popped up and a small bit of solder (pin head sized) got on his hand. This probably explains his hesitancy to try his hand at it.

He learned from the parent, watched how parent screwed up, then decided to avoid screwing up like parent.

You did a good job raising him thus far, why are you complaining?

Not complaining...bragging!
And stating the fact that he solders better than me on his first go.

Soldering came naturally to me too, and I am a natural artist (drawing mostly), though I don't draw very often because it is tedious.

However, I also had a $500 Metcal MX-500 soldering iron to learn on (the handle is amazingly ergonomic with the shortest "tip-to-grip" distance in the business, making it very much like using a pen or pencil), professionals to teach me, and 1000 PCB's a night to "practice" on -- i.e., I worked in a PCB factory, inspecting and soldering boards.

Well...the iron he uses cost about $7.00 
Not quite ready for PCBs yet. When I showed him the Keywiz hubs, he said
"Ummm...maybe you should do those Dad".
Are you a lefty also Maxim?

Xam, any time someone in your sphere can do something better than you, it's a sign to make - um, let them do it.

I was thinking maybe manipulate...err ask them to do it...

Xam

[MaximRecoil]

Well...the iron he uses cost about $7.00 

Yeah, the one I have here at home is a $7 Radio Shack special. I hate it. I can solder with it but it feels clumsy as an off ox. I loved the Metcal's we had at work. One of these days I'm going to buy me a Metcal of some kind. I don't need the top-end MX-500, most any Metcal will do...they all have that awesome handle with the short tip-to-grip distance, and the quick-change tip cartridges. They take about 5 seconds from the time you turn them on to heat to 700°F. The tips are really well designed, and the one I preferred at work, what we called the "hockey stick" tip, had a perfect shape and angle on it for both through-hole and surface-mount soldering.

Not quite ready for PCBs yet. When I showed him the Keywiz hubs, he said
"Ummm...maybe you should do those Dad".
Are you a lefty also Maxim?

Nope. My older brother and younger sister are also natural artists and right-handed. We also have nearly identical handwriting. My older sister, who is also the oldest of us, is the odd one out. She has typical "girlie" handwriting and can't draw at all -- but she is right-handed like the rest of us.

[Xam]

Well...the iron he uses cost about $7.00 

Yeah, the one I have here at home is a $7 Radio Shack special. I hate it. I can solder with it but it feels clumsy as an off ox. I loved the Metcal's we had at work. One of these days I'm going to buy me a Metcal of some kind. I don't need the top-end MX-500, most any Metcal will do...they all have that awesome handle with the short tip-to-grip distance, and the quick-change tip cartridges. They take about 5 seconds from the time you turn them on to heat to 700°F. The tips are really well designed, and the one I preferred at work, what we called the "hockey stick" tip, had a perfect shape and angle on it for both through-hole and surface-mount soldering.

Not quite ready for PCBs yet. When I showed him the Keywiz hubs, he said
"Ummm...maybe you should do those Dad".
Are you a lefty also Maxim?

Nope. My older brother and younger sister are also natural artists and right-handed. We also have nearly identical handwriting. My older sister, who is also the oldest of us, is the odd one out. She has typical "girlie" handwriting and can't draw at all -- but she is right-handed like the rest of us.

LOL!...We probably have the same iron. It is a bit clumsy as the tip is about 50 yards from the grip.

I got one lefty in the family...well...he does most things left handed. He plays golf, solders, and writes left. In basketball, he dribbles right and shoots left. In baseball he's left.

I am also in the non-artistic category...he did not get that skill from me.

Xam

[MaximRecoil]

LOL!...We probably have the same iron. It is a bit clumsy as the tip is about 50 yards from the grip.

Yup, I know all about it. It is like trying to write or draw while gripping the pencil halfway up instead of down close to the tip. For most soldering jobs those cheap irons are fine, but I'd hate to try to do anything particularly precise with one (like surface-mount), or even worse, be on a production line with one.

I got one lefty in the family...well...he does most things left handed. He plays golf, solders, and writes left. In basketball, he dribbles right and shoots left. In baseball he's left.

I am also in the non-artistic category...he did not get that skill from me.

I seem to recall something about my older brother showing some tendencies toward left-handedness when he was young, like at the dinner table I think (using his left hand for utensils) but my father "broke" him of it, lol. He is to this day the most ambidextrous of us kids (I'm not even remotely ambidextrous).

Both of our parents are decidedly non-artistic as well, yet three out of four of us kids are natural artists. It is funny how genes work.

[bfauska]

I am a fan of the precision offered by the soldering gun myself  .  I first learned to solder with one of these and good god they can be a bear.  I realize they are not designed for intricate stuff, but it's all we had, now however I quite like a basic iron with good heat control.

[MaximRecoil]

I am a fan of the precision offered by the soldering gun myself  .  I first learned to solder with one of these and good god they can be a bear.  I realize they are not designed for intricate stuff, but it's all we had, now however I quite like a basic iron with good heat control.

Nothing beats a Metcal for precision IMO. Here is a picture of a Metcal handpiece (RM3E) vs. a Weller handpiece (WP25):



And a picture of a whole Metcal station:



For tip geometry, I prefer the fine point conical tips with a 30° bend. The tip in the Metcal vs. Weller picture is too large for my taste, though there were a couple people at work that used that exact tip, as well as some that used a straight tip (no bend). The tip I used looked more like the tip in this picture:



About those solder guns, I've never used one but I can imagine that they'd be about as unwieldy as they get, even worse than a fat-gripped, long-tipped $7 iron. I don't think they are intended for PCB's though. Aren't they made for soldering bigger, heavier stuff...kind of like a tool to bridge the gap between an iron and a torch?

That reminds me of something one of my ex-coworkers told me one night. Her husband had something broken and wanted to know if she could solder it, considering she was a professional and all. She said she didn't have an iron, so he goes out into the shed and comes back with a big old soldering gun. She didn't even know what it was. "What am I supposed to do with that", she aked him, "shoot it?"

[Xam]

Wow! The Mets do look nice. I can see where you would definately have more precise control.
Unfortunately, the small amount of soldering I do does not justify owning one of those.

Xam

[bfauska]

That Metcal is certainly a sexy little beast.  I was kidding about liking the guns, I use a Weller at work, and while it isn't quite as nice as the Mets it's not too shabby.  I just found a place that sells them online and it looks like it'd cost about 2x the price of the Weller (~$100) for a useful Met.  This is basically what I use, only ours is probably about a decade older (and I am sure it could use some maintenance):

[MaximRecoil]

Wow! The Mets do look nice. I can see where you would definately have more precise control.
Unfortunately, the small amount of soldering I do does not justify owning one of those.

Xam

Yeah, that's why I don't own one (yet) either. I simply don't have occasion to solder much here at home. Give me enough time though and I'll figure out a way to justify it to myself, lol.

That Metcal is certainly a sexy little beast.  I was kidding about liking the guns,

Yeah, I know. I saw the head-banging-against-the-wall icon, lol...plus you can tell from looking at those things that they would be ridiculously "gawmy" for any job that requires even the slightest bit of precision.

I use a Weller at work, and while it isn't quite as nice as the Mets it's not too shabby.

We had Wellers kicking around where I worked too, I assume from before they switched over to Metcals, because they were all under desks in boxes, though a few diehards still used them. They are high quality irons, no doubt about that, they just lack the "precision instrument" feel of a Metcal. I only used one once. I asked my boss if I could borrow an iron to take home for the night because I needed to do some soldering in a speaker box, and at the time I didn't even have my $7 Radio Shack special yet. He said "Sure thing" and handed me a dusty box with a big old Weller in it.

I just found a place that sells them online and it looks like it'd cost about 2x the price of the Weller (~$100) for a useful Met.  This is basically what I use, only ours is probably about a decade older (and I am sure it could use some maintenance):

Yeah, I'd take one of those "cheap" Metcals in a heartbeat, as opposed to say, a Metcal MX-500 with all the trimmings for $689 or a bare bones MX-500 for $436. The important part for me is that perfect (IMO) Metcal handpiece and their tip cartridges. Pretty much any of their power supplies would be fine for me, considering only occasional home use. I've seen some of their used lower end models go on Ebay for ~$100. I'll probably get one eventually, in one form or another.

[Level42]

Yeah, I'm sure the Met's are a dream to work with, but for that price you can pick up two cabs that need a bit of restoring

My "weapon of choice" is this simple and "ancient" Weller Magnastat soldering station.


A friend gave it to me about 15 years ago and it was already "old"/written off then....

The temperature can be changed by different soldering tips, but I have never needed to change it. It is controlled by a magnetic thermostat. This was designed before the electronic termperature controlled stations were developped, but the same principle still works fine and it's still in production in a modernized form:


I think this is fine for the kind of work I need to do on PCB's etc.

Essentials:

1) Any soldering station is always better then a "single unit" soldering iron
2) be sure it has enough power (the station above is 50 watts). A underpowered iron will have to be put (too) long to the pin of the part, so the part can get overheated while the solder is still not flowing.

And the golden tip on soldering is still: let it flow. Let the solde do the work.