Like most things after a move, I have no idea where my old soldering iron has ended up. That said, it is not like I had a nice one or even most of the extra stuff I would need to setup a soldering station in the garage. I barely did any soldering in the past and most of that was like 15-20 years ago. So, it is time to do some shopping and prepare myself for the presales items that will require this gear. Hoping to keep my cost around $50 to $60 for everything but not skimp on items that make my life easier vs harder but cheaper.
Since I have Prime, my go to is typically Amazon… so I ordered:
- Aoyue 469 Variable Power 60 Watt Soldering Station with Removable Tip Design- ESD Safe – seems to be a solid variable power station with solid reviews
- Hakko CHP-170 Micro Soft Wire Cutter, 1.5mm Stand-off, Flush Cut, 2.5mm Hardened Carbon Steel Construction, 21-Degree Angled Jaw, 8mm Jaw Length, 16 Gauge Maximum Cutting Capacity – for cutting off the extra bits that sometimes get left over when soldering
- Alpha Fry AT-31604 60-40 Rosin Core Solder (4 Ounces) – everyone needs solder and this seems to be the standard ratio for this kind of work – add-on item
- SE MZ101B Helping Hand with Magnifying Glass – cause everyone needs a helping hand? it is just something to hold the wires together and free a hand – also add-on item
- Aoyue Soldering Iron Tip Cleaner with Brass wire sponge, no water needed – because I don’t need to keep water for my sponge and it looks like fun to poke at
- Solder Sucker- desoldering pump – because I will likely mess up a lot and this is a cheap way to suck the extra solder off after you heat it up again
So that ran me almost exactly $60. Even if I went the cheap route, I would have spent at least 1/2 that. I had points on my card to cover the cost anyways, so it felt like I didn’t spend anything!