Recommended soldering supplies

This list was originally just an amazon wishlist, but as I just dropped amazon prime and some things can’t be gotten there anyway (except terrible counterfeits). I do this sort of work often enough that I get to liking certain tools, or even certain brands and models so I have this list to show what I use in any given scenario. The links to where I got these things, or the primary source are the part number above the description. 

Desoldering Station: Atten ST-862D

This is the station from Louis Rossmann’s famous youtube channel. It’s even the same picture from his website, because that’s where I got mine and that’s where I recommend you get yours. He has some videos on his channel comparing different stations and I was convinced to get one because doing everything with my pencil iron these days has been getting harder and harder. 

Flux: Amtech NC-559-V2-TF Tacky Flux

This is the flux Louis recommends on his channel to the point that he is a reseller of it (that’s why this image is watermarked). I had previously bought it from Amtech directly, but between then and now I think they’ve upgraded some things so I don’t yet know what the equivalent or better version is on their site. Possibly this one, or this one (upgraded version). 

Desoldering iron: Hakko FR-301 Portable Desoldering Tool

This is the desoldering iron I had access to at my last job and wow! I liked it so much I bought one for myself. And for a friend. And got someone else to buy one. I don’t know why Amazon is cheaper than Hakko directly, or why the difference is so much. I got mine from ebay and it was a Japanese one but it worked just as well (the power specs are close enough that I think they use the same parts). They are good and they have a decent array of accessories. Suggestions:

  • Get spare filters, lots, and don’t peel apart clogged ones to save money, you do not want flux residue and smoke getting into the vacuum pump assembly because fixing that to make a seal is kind of a pain. 
  • Reamer pins are good for gently clogged nozzles, get one for each size tip you have. 
  • Reamer drills and pin vises are better for clogs near the nozzle and if you have a lot of oxides/corrosion you are sucking up (or just build up). 
  • Additional tips are good for bigger pins, get drills and pins for those though for maximum utility. 

Soldering station: Weller Digital Soldering Station – WE 1010NA

This is not actually the soldering station I use, but it’s the current closest model. I use the old Weller WES51, but this is compatible with those parts. I don’t like the user interface to the Hakko irons, or the cost of consumables of commercial junk like Pace (even when I had one of these stations at a previous job I didn’t like it). 

Portable soldering iron: Pinecil

This is like the TS80, TS100, or other little usb-c powered iron, but I like this one. These guys make good hardware, it has open designs, USB-C and barrel jack power…. You can even 3d print carrying cases and accessories for use with it. 

Benchtop USB power station: PinePower

This is a good USB PD supply, it has a lot of outputs, QI charging on top, and the voltage and current monitors on the front are nice to see what got negotiated. 

Portable USB power supply: Literally anything USB-PD

This is not special, amazon has hundreds of these. I have never had one that failed to deliver what it promised. Just get something that you can use with the pinecil. 

Portable soldering iron cable: anything high current and silicone

You can get the cable from Pine, or from amazon, or wherever, but it should be capable of lots of power and it should be heat resistant (silicone). 

Desoldering solder: ChipQuik SMD1 Leaded Low Temperature Removal Kit

This is not actually the version I buy anymore, I get the big pack. This stuff is useful for desoldering big chips because you can melt it and it won’t solidify as fast. You can also reasonably desolder big SMD chips with a pencil iron this way, but you have to get every scrap of this solder off the board before you apply fresh solder to put the new chip on. This applies to the leads of the salvaged part if you re-use it. This stuff is poison to solder joints, it is used for taking things off, not putting them on. 

Solder: leaded Kester or Loctite/Multicore

It doesn’t mater where you get this, but I have at least two sizes on hand at any time. I have 0.020″ thin stuff for surface mount joints, and bigger stuff for bigger joints. This stuff is expensive, but will probably last a normal person a life time (it lasts me a handful of years). These are the brands I enjoy using and I have never found a compelling reason to not use lead solder for personal projects. Even the wafting fumes are just flux and not aerosolized lead. Don’t eat the stuff, and don’t lick your fingers and you’ll be fine. 

Soldering iron cleaner: Brass, any brass, just not a wet sponge

Get it from Weller, get it from Pine or Hakko, get it from Amazon or from some estate sale with electronics parts there. Just use brass and not a wet sponge. Also, do not be timid about wiping stuff off. Think like wiping peanut butter off a knife, not dabbing a paintbrush. Leaving the iron in the brass won’t wick off the solder, and leaving it in a wet sponge just cools it down. 

Soldering iron tips: get a variety

For big joints the tiny hair-like tips do not get hot enough or hold their heat. For surface mount you want a tip no bigger than the pad you’re soldering to. I’ve been accused of ‘cheating’ when someone brings me a project that they find hard to solder and I just switch to a better tip than they have. It really makes things a lot easier and doesn’t cost much. The tips that have flat spots are better at transferring heat because there’s a bigger surface area touching the part (that’s also why you sometimes add solder to get better heat conductivity). You will need different tips for the Pinecil, but you can order a variety from them for surprisingly cheap considering they are also the heaters. 

Desoldering braid: Chemtronics 50-4-25 Soder-Wick

This stuff is great. I use it for cleaning up low temp solder, mopping everything up and clearing the way for good fresh solder. I also use it for pulling parts off boards when the desoldering iron doesn’t get every bit. When you solder down surface mount chips it is also useful for cleaning up the blobs that get between the pins. 

Solvent: 99% Isopropyl Alcohol

I didn’t link to this because you shouldn’t mail order it. Go to your local hardware store and but a gallon jug of the stuff. Don’t use that 70% stuff from the drug store, for our purposes it might as well be water. This is essential for cleaning off circuit boards from that thick tacky flux with the help of that free toothbrush you got from your last dentist visit. 

Solvent dispensers: 125ml Unitary Wash Bottles, Wide Mouth, Molded Graduations, LDPE

These are small enough to he handled easily, you can fill them with the alcohol above and wash off circuit boards, or work benches with some paper towel. I like the ones that have the tube up the side because I find they break less easily than the ones that go through the cap. 

Cleaning implements: generic cotton swabs

There is nothing about these that requires brand name, they’re consumable and you will want a lot of them. You probably want them to be a container dedicated to electronics and not just the ones you might have in your bathroom. 

Contact cleaner: Deoxit

These guys make some good stuff. This is what I use for carriages, card edge connectors, and they even have one just for potentiometers (Deoxit Fader). I’ve heard friends refer to this as ‘guitar fix in a can’ and it’s another one of those things that people consider ‘cheating’ when I use it to fix particularly stubborn problems. 

Lubricant: Tri-Flow

This stuff is great, it’s literally bottled teflon. If you need to unstick an 8-track mechanism just one drop will do. It also comes in aerosol can if you are a fan of overkill. This has the properties of that sardine oil from the Futurama ‘A Fishful of Dollars’, it’s great. 

Electrical Tape: 3M Super 88

This stuff is probably the best out there, but honestly the harbor freight stuff works alright. 

High temp tape: a variety of kapton from wherever

I use this stuff for anywhere I need incredibly thin tape, high temp stuff, or electrical insulation against a metal chassis. It doesn’t flex though so any position except flat ends up with wrinkles. 

Heat shrink tubing: anything, but harbor freight is cheap

I have never had any issue with harbor freight heat shrink. They have a number of packs for around $5 and even some with integral hot glue labeled ‘marine grade’ but I use it for any weatherproof joints. 

Heatshrink gun: anything, but not a hair dryer and probably not a lighter

You can get these for a little from amazon, but they have quirks. I had one that had an internal resettable thermal fuse where, if you cycle it repeatedly, will trip. It seems the flowing air cools the thing just enough that it is alright, but constantly turning it on and off doing up joints is just too much. You can also get the ‘heaterizer’ from sparkfun, but really anything that produces hot air will work. If you got the rework station above and only need to heat stuff at a workbench then skip this. If you want something portable maybe check amazon. A lighter (or jet lighter) is actually ok if you are very, very fast about it but it burns insulation and heat shrink tubing because it gets too hot. 

Prototyping wire: Wire wrap wire, 28 or 30AWG

This stuff is nice and thin, easy to maneuver, and easy to strip with fingernails. It’s a single strand which eliminates the problem of splayed wires and still pretty flexible. The stuff is also pre-tinned so it makes for easy connections. 

Wire strippers: Klein Tools 11057 Wire Cutter / Wire Stripper

These are available as craftsman, klein, and a number of other brands. They’re solid, they meet at a good point, and they get quite small (and work on that wire wrap wire). You should get some bigger ones too (there’s a whole series of these) but I do a lot of small stuff so this is my workhorse. 

Flush cutters: Hakko-CHP-170 Micro Cutter

These are my preferred brand, and even though I notch them occasionally on different brands of 0.1″ headers I still go back to these cutters. They’re more specialized than you can usually get at a general hardware store, but an essential for electronics. 

Plires: a variety pack

This is a good generic pack, but even harbor freight stuff will work. Big wire should not be attempted with flush cutters, these diagonal cutters work better. The needlenose plires and the angled ones do a much better job at getting into tight places than generic (bottlenose) ones do. 

Flat blade plires: whatever your jeweler’s store has

It is frequently useful to have perfectly smooth jaws on plires rather than the serrations usually found on hardware store stuff (the needlenose tend to be like this, but too long to get a good grab on stuff). I also have conical plires that jewelers use for making smooth curves in wire. I also use them to create smooth curves in wire, but it’s made of less precious metals. 

Zip ties: black ones

The brand is important, but I don’t know a good brand. If you use one and it snaps when tightening, maybe try another one. If that happens more than once throw them all away and try a different brand. It’s not worth taking the chance of them letting go after you think you’re done. I say black ones because those tend to be more UV resistant. I have a wide variety from all over and even use rainbow colored ones, but it’s hard to find good ones. Don’t just buy the cheap crap like I have said is fine for other stuff, but you’ll have to find a good brand on your own. 

Work surface: some silicone mat, as fancy as you like

I use a wooden workbench for soldering and nothing else. When it gets burned, cut, scarred, etc… I just belt sand it and keep going. You may not have the space for a dedicated consumable work bench. Silicone is a good choice for this, and you even get some parts bins for putting screws of the thing you’re taking apart. 

Magnetic parts trays: whatever you can find

I have these from Amazon, Harbor Freight, Microcenter, just about anywhere. They’re useful sometimes to keep screws somewhere for a project, but also when you box up the unfinished project you can just leave the magnetic tray in there. They’re that cheap, just get some. 

Hobby knife: again, just use whatever

You will want a vareity of shapes of blade, and if you care about ergonomics you want a big chunky handle. Sometimes a svelte one will be useful, but if you’re carving away at stuff for more than a minute or so you want something cushy. They all tend to use the same size blades (maybe 2 sizes), so get whatever looks good it probably won’t crumble in your hands.

 Hot glue gun: Something sturdy

This one from Amazon is fine, but I’ve never changed the tip or used a specific type of glue. I know there are different mixes that melt at different temperatures, but that has not helped me. Perhaps if I did a lot of costume work I’d like other tips, but this one works for my purposes. You can get a mini one if you want, but I go through so much glue that the full size one is a must. 

Screwdriver: a big 4mm interchangeable bit set

Don’t bother with the motorized 4mm stuff, it doesn’t have enough torque. Get yourself a decent variety pack, because you really don’t want to have the wrong size phillips and convince yourself that once is just fine and fuck it up by using the wrong size. It fucks up the threads, it fucks up the bit, don’t do it. Also these usually have a good variety of security bits so you can open things that should have been free they are so crap and all the money was spent on keeping you out and not producing a quality product. 

Calipers: something digital

Dial calipers are fine, but iy takes more time to read them. The main difference between cheap and expensive digital calipers is the battery life. You can get ones with more digits of precision, but usually that’s not important. Faster settling is nice, but battery life is really the main issue for seldom used calipers. That’s why I have one set of mitutoyo solar calipers, no you can’t have them. 

Multimeter: UNI-T Digital Multimeter UT161B

This is a good general purpouse meter, and getting one that claims true RMS readings for AC is important. The data cable will probably never be used, but this is a solid brand that builds things around generic multimeter-on-a-chip asics. 

DC current meter: UNI-T UT210E

This is the one I really like though. AC/DC clamp meter. The DC part is important and until I found this thing quite expensive. You can measure how many amps are flowing through your car battery lead and it’s super helpful. Normally you have to break the circuit and insert a shunt to do that, get yourself one of these if you ever deal with current. 

Multimeter leads: Bionso 25-Piece Multimeter Leads Kit

Those meters are alright and come with alright probes, but if you really want to poke studd something like this is better. They’re silicone leads so much more noodle-y and the swappable tips include grabbers and very fine point probes which I almost always leave on. 

Through hole soldering kit: eLearnTronics Advanced Learning Board: Logic Gates

With all this stuff you have to build up some skills. This is a good starter set for through hole components. Start here and with all the above tools you can try, and try, and try again until you get it. It’s also moderately educational being a logic gate and all that. 

Surface mount soldering kit: Gikfun DIY SMD SMT Welding Practice Soldering Skill Training Board Ek7028

This is the more advanced kit that you might end up losing some parts from. It’s good, but the parts can blow away easily. The benefit here is that you can try it when you’re done to prove that all your joints work.