If you ever get the chance, solder under a (say 40x) stereo microscope. The soldering station at my internship was this kind of setup and it literally gave me a

If you ever get the chance, solder under a (say 40x) stereo microscope. The soldering station at my internship was this kind of setup and it literally gave me a whole new perspective on soldering. I got to see exactly how the flux and solder flow, how the heat spreads through the material and at what moment the heat was too high that it would melt or release the tiniest coper traces on the board. Also how well solder sticks and flows once everything is properly heated.