Soldering ToolsTo do a good job and not bodge it to much there are some very cheap and inexpensive tools you can use in the aid of soldering. Many people just use their hands which is quite fine but there are some serious repercussions with this method in the least the ability to burn yourself very seriously.
So here is a list of just some of the tools that we can use in out arsenal.
Picks , brushes and Pointers. These are excellent for removing and cleaning up joints and help in the movement of small SMD's. some people use their fingers as well but to be honest is not a good idea. when you use you fingers you end up transfusing grease form you hands to the electrical components which in turn can cause many problems. These cost about £3 for a set at the cheap end like mine or you can go for the more expensive set for about £10.
Tweezers If you didn't know there are many varieties of tweezers out there and the most common is the version you pick up from you local store or chemist that are used to pull eyebrows or spelks out of people skin these are no good at all for soldering there just to clumsy. What you need is a decent pair with nice pointed tips or even the type that doctors use with a bend in them. The ones pictured below are clock makers tweezers and they have very very fine tips on them which is perfect for moving and handling SMD's and LED's. These Clock Makers tweezers cost about £4.50 for a set but you can pay anything up to £10 for a small set or even just one.
Clock makers , Jewellers eye glassThese come in various forms from x5 right up to x25 times. I personally have a x10 one which is excellent for checking soldering on SMD's and legs on chips. You can easily pick out bridges and mistakes with these. Not everyone uses them but since it only costs about £2.50 for cheap one it is a worthwhile investment in the long term.
Soldering BraidNow when you make mistakes this stuff is unbelievably handy stuff to have around. Braid is used to Mop up excess solder and can help in the cleaning of mistakes and bridges that you may have created. It comes in various widths and lengths. However a little warning the really cheap stuff is rubbish and makes more of a mess than anything else. It only costs a few pence more for decent stuff. It should cost no more than that £1 to £5 depending on the length you buy.
Helping HandsOne of the best tools ever created for doing soldering. These little babies can hold you PCB steady for you while you work. Not only do they hold them they all have a nice medium magnify glass to help and aid in the LED's and SMD's onto you PCB or Bread board. I cannot stress how useful they are. If you only going to buy one tool then get one of these you'll never regret it. They cost from £4.50 to £10 and come in various forms.
Hobby Knife , ScalpelAgain another handy tool to have as these can be used for slicing and for many things such as cutting PCB lines or bread board. Again they do not cost much from £1 to £10 depending on what type you get.
Soldering station or Soldering iron.There are many different types of soldering irons from gas driven ones to cold ones that only heat up once it makes contact with the Solder. I will only be concentrating on the normal electric soldering iron's as the other two are useless for what we need.
Now i own 2 different types. The first one is a plain old 18 Watt standard off the shelf simple soldering iron. It has been in use for many years and is what i used to mod and fix consoles and various other things. It has been a very handy tool and was perfect for my normal soldering needs. The only problem with it is that 18 watt is just some times to much or to little. These cost about £10 to £18
Pic below and yes it needs cleaning.
Next we have my best friend my soldering station. Now this little beast has a variable heat source for controlling the amount of wattage that the soldering iron gets as well as a Heat pen for flow soldering and all so adjustable voltage so i can test out my project's without using other equipment. It may look expansive but only cost £75.00
Now if your going to get into soldering components a lot i suggest getting a work station as its benefits far outweigh any soldering iron and they needn't be expensive. the one above all so came with leads to connect many different mobile phones so that you could power them up and all so crocodile clips and more.
SolderThere are many different types of solder so you need to chose one that suits your needs. If working with SMD's hand doing by a soldering iron get the thinnest you can or solder paste. If anything else you can use any standard stuff. Like normal though the more you pay the better the solder.
De soldering Pump. I prefer Solder wick to this method but it you make a big blob this can help the start of the cleanup operation. So again its one of those thing's that is just good to have just in case you need it.
FluxNow flux is quite important when working with SMD's as it help the solder to stick to the SMD quite well. I user a Flux pen on all my work and it has a shelf life of around 2 years. I think i may have passed that now so i need to order some more.
Fibre PenFibre pens are really handy to have esp when working in modding and needing to get access to a track that is under a thin layer of protective coating. I have gone through about 20+ refill with this thing so it gets hammered allot. Its all so excellent for cleaning certain areas. Just don't over do it as this tuff can rip though protective layers like mad.
Thin nosed pliers and wire cutters. Needless to say what there are for.
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