My recs? Get a decent chinese soldering iron clone of expensive brands (e.g. a hakko clone) the number 1 thing that makes soldering not a pita is an iron that gets to specific temperatures fast and can inject a lot of heat rapidly. Double check the earth wire inside, cheap is good but QA/QC takes a hit.
If you want to do a lot of SMD soldering a proper station with hot air is nicer than repurposed stoves or drag soldering but a selection of tips and a little practice is worth it if you're just repairing random stuff.
Get lead free solder, all lead is hazardous and burdensome on the world and lead free solder is not difficult to use with a good iron. I can drag solder a stm32 with lead free and I am a noob.
Necessary consumables:
rosin flux, soldering without flux is like washing dishes without soap. Flux cored solder is adequate in a pinch but a nice blob of rosin is so much smoother.
solder wick. You will make mistakes or need to lift components, make it easier on yourself.
solder (obvs) if you're fucking with ICs or smd components low temp is more comfy. Always use right temp and tip for your solder and task, hotter but faster is less heat than cold and slow generally.
ipa to clean rosin
tips:
tin shit first.
redo bad connections, make sure you're wetting the part. Avoid raised beads.
let parts cool between soldering
work in a ventilated area
tin the iron tip before storing. It keeps it from corroding.
heat the lead not the solder. Solder won't wet a cold part.
Anything is fine really. Don't overthink it, just look at the temp it melts at. DIP you're way less likely to cook a chip anyway.
imho worrying about solder overmuch is like worrying about the specific type of nail in a carpentry project. Unless you're an expert or working at the edge of tolerances then it wont affect the final product much.
As credentials: I have handwired 2 keyboards and built an led cube. A good iron and rosin flux will do 90% of the work. Your only remaining job is to set the temp right, grow 3 arms to align stuff, and briefly touch the iron to pin.
My recs? Get a decent chinese soldering iron clone of expensive brands (e.g. a hakko clone) the number 1 thing that makes soldering not a pita is an iron that gets to specific temperatures fast and can inject a lot of heat rapidly. Double check the earth wire inside, cheap is good but QA/QC takes a hit.
If you want to do a lot of SMD soldering a proper station with hot air is nicer than repurposed stoves or drag soldering but a selection of tips and a little practice is worth it if you're just repairing random stuff.
Get lead free solder, all lead is hazardous and burdensome on the world and lead free solder is not difficult to use with a good iron. I can drag solder a stm32 with lead free and I am a noob.
Necessary consumables:
rosin flux, soldering without flux is like washing dishes without soap. Flux cored solder is adequate in a pinch but a nice blob of rosin is so much smoother.
solder wick. You will make mistakes or need to lift components, make it easier on yourself.
solder (obvs) if you're fucking with ICs or smd components low temp is more comfy. Always use right temp and tip for your solder and task, hotter but faster is less heat than cold and slow generally.
ipa to clean rosin
tips:
What lead free solder would you recommend for basic thru hole work with a handful of DIP ICs?
Anything is fine really. Don't overthink it, just look at the temp it melts at. DIP you're way less likely to cook a chip anyway.
imho worrying about solder overmuch is like worrying about the specific type of nail in a carpentry project. Unless you're an expert or working at the edge of tolerances then it wont affect the final product much.
As credentials: I have handwired 2 keyboards and built an led cube. A good iron and rosin flux will do 90% of the work. Your only remaining job is to set the temp right, grow 3 arms to align stuff, and briefly touch the iron to pin.