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I struggled with soldering for years, thinking I was just bad at soldering. Then I got to use a basic Hakko iron and it was infinitely easier. I immediately thr

I struggled with soldering for years, thinking I was just bad at soldering. Then I got to use a basic Hakko iron and it was infinitely easier. I immediately threw away the Radio Shack iron I had and bought my own Hakko. The cheapo irons are such a waste of time and money. Unfortunately, I think they tend to set-point people for what to expect for iron prices. Going from $10-15 for a junky iron to $65-80 for a good one seems like a big leap. But this is a tool that should last you forever, if you take care of it, and the productivity improvement is well worth the cost. Consider, you’ll spend hundreds on components for a hobby project of any moderate size. Just buy a good iron already. It reminds me of how much I hate the phrase, “it is a poor Workman who blames his tools”. Yeah, yeah, skilled people can get good results out of junky tools. But you won’t actually ever see it happen, because skilled people care about their work enough to only use good tools. The only time a skilled person uses junky tools is when there is literally no other option (and no, having to wait for a delivery is not one of those cases).

atoav 7y ago
There are bad tools, and then there are tools that just aren't fit for purpose. If you are trying to melt metal with a machine and that machine cannot translate energy into the required amount of heat fast enough, it might just be the wrong machine to begin with. Soldering with a bad iron is the equivalent of trying to chisel wood with a flat screwdriver: sure you can do something to the wood – it just might not be the thing you want.
- crispyambulance 7y ago
  Yep. And honestly, leaded solder is far more forgiving and less sensitive to technique. If someone is just barely able to solder with leaded, they're definitely NOT going to have a good experience with lead-free. I do think hobbyists should switch to lead-free, but it will involve getting rid of marginal equipment, refining technique through practice, and following instructions. The best way to make this switch, IMHO, is simply to make leaded solder unavailable to the consumer market.

atoav 7y ago

There are bad tools, and then there are tools that just aren't fit for purpose. If you are trying to melt metal with a machine and that machine cannot translate energy into the required amount of heat fast enough, it might just be the wrong machine to begin with. Soldering with a bad iron is the equivalent of trying to chisel wood with a flat screwdriver: sure you can do something to the wood – it just might not be the thing you want.

crispyambulance 7y ago
Yep. And honestly, leaded solder is far more forgiving and less sensitive to technique. If someone is just barely able to solder with leaded, they're definitely NOT going to have a good experience with lead-free. I do think hobbyists should switch to lead-free, but it will involve getting rid of marginal equipment, refining technique through practice, and following instructions. The best way to make this switch, IMHO, is simply to make leaded solder unavailable to the consumer market.