Hi,
I need a good soldering iron.
Can I have your opinions on what I need to look for, please?
I would like to buy a very good soldering iron for serious photo-etch work.
Can you point me in the right direction?
Thank you for your help.

Joe.

Hi Joe,

from my experiences in my job and hobby i can highly recommend Weller soldering iron stations. The two i've got at home are from my father who bought them in the beginning of the 70's and gave them to me when i was thirteen (that's 15 years ago). I also got one on my job. Same type, same quality, same age.

There are actually only two things about soldering iron stations you should take care of:

1st: The iron's temperature has to be adjustable
2nd: Good tips are essentially important

For "clean" soldering PE there is one more thing to consider and that is the usage of soldering fluid/grease. The rest is just... practice.


Hope this helps...


Bernd

Joe;
firstly I am no expert so take this for what its worth. I purchased a soldering iron about two years ago from Radio shack and it seems to work fine. What I knew I wanted was a fine tip, the finest you can fin for small precise work. One with an automatic shut off might be handy, if you ever leave the bench for say, a tasty cold beverage (just in case).
A while back Angry Dog posted about using a small hand torch (not a flashlight but an actual flame) like chefs use for making things like creme brulee, I happen to be a chef and I have one of those as well. If you can find the thread he explains the process and it might be useful before you pull the trigger on an iron. Good luck.

On the topic of soldering irons, I've got one with a fixed tip that looks to be a bit wide for doing any fine work. Can the tip be trimmed, or is this a really bad idea? Sorry for butting in.

Kimmo

if you get one get an adjustable temperature great for doing PE. tips as long as they are cooper can be reshaped with a file just have to re tin it again afterwards.

I'll have to dig it out and see what it's made of. It's a Proxxon 12V, that's all I remember. Bought the thing a few years back for some reason or another. Thanks

bad thing about the cheap and simple soldering irons is tend to burn the tip out, its a single heat setting so you tend to leave it on till you are done. if it is adjustable you can turn the heat setting up or down and leave it on for a long time without burning the tip out. and don't forget the flux if you are going to do PE and invest in a fiber pen eraser. to remove the extra solder . e bay has a good selection of adjustable temp soldering stations they run around 50 or so bucks free shipping its a good investment. or you can find one on auction and bid on it. they all come from china even the ones from radio shack.