I needed some new tools for some small soldering work I will be doing, so I ordered some new toys this week. I’ve found it’s important to have and use the correct tools tools, rather than what might be closest at hand, or cheapest.

I’ve made a small list of things that it’s wise to invest in a quality product, rather than buying a cheaper brand or version.

Here’s my list:

toilet paper
trash bags
packing tape
and my latest addition – soldering irons

I have a few pieces of soldering work I need to finish next week, and I’ve grown weary of waiting for my $10 firestarter soldering iron to heat up. After it’s warm, it’s still tough to use to do small work. As I’ve said before, I’m not an expert at it by any means, but I intend to improve. To that end, I’ve purchase a mid-range analog lead-free capable soldering station from SparkFun.

The Aoyue 2901 station seems a pretty good deal for ~$80 (list price at time of writing). I don’t need a soldering iron weekly, but every few months I’ll spend a few hours working with one. This week I ordered the soldering station, some solder, soldering braid(something that,as a newbie, I haven’t used before), and a few spare tips.

My first small work was a couple years back when I completely disassembled a Toshiba laptop and replaced the power jack. It actually worked after re-assembly and I even had parts leftover. :O) I learned a few things from that project, the most important being to use the right size of soldering iron. My first attempt was using a 100-watt gun, and I almost scorched the mainboard. My el-cheapo 30watt iron ended up getting me through it ok, so I didn’t learn a lesson in quality.

My second small work project was a pair of motherboards that need capacitors replaced. While my 30-watt stick once again pulled me through it, its size and lack of temperature control was evident. Now that I have more small work, I’m going to use the right tools.

On a side-note, SparkFun is a well-stocked website that carries a complete range of tech tools and equipment. If you have any interest in tech projects or gadgetry, you will find the site very useful.