Electronics > Beginners
Should I be worried about tip lifetime when buying my first soldering station?
<< < (9/9)
KL27x:

--- Quote ---I use Festool power tools, Veritas planes and chisels, Incra fences and rulers, Pfeil carving chisels and mostly Apple computers at home.
--- End quote ---
Yes, you were born to buy a JBC, lol.
I bought a few Bosch tools when I lived in an apartment, thinking that because I couldn't have large freestanding tools, I would need my small hand tools to be good. Yeah, Bosch tools were my "expensive brand." I think I have one Makita something or other. The rest is Harbor Freight... or worse. And for the most part, I couldn't tell you the difference between the name brand stuff and HF. I have never had a Harbor Freight tool let me down, yet. The quality is superb. (With only rare exceptions like rotary tools. Dunno why, but I say stick with Dremel and Proxxon). You guys in Europe have no idea how good cheap chinese stuff is when the importer actually selects them with care and then implements quality control backed with a great warranty (which I have never needed). Canada and US have decent quality power tools for almost free via Princess Auto and Harbor Freight.

Chisels... this is the weirdest thing to me why people spend crazy money on chisels. It's a piece of steel in a handle. A monkey can probably be taught how to make a chisel. I have noticed a slight difference in the hardness and edge holding between my good chisel and my Kobalt. But it's like 5%. I pick up the one that is the right size for the job and I sharpen it when it needs sharpening. The chisel that is the right size and freshly sharpened and in my hand is my favorite chisel. Files, yeah. I will pay more for a good file. Chisels are pretty much disposable/interchangeable items to me. Matching chisels are also not important to me. I don't even see why you want the same huge handle on a 1/8" chisel as a 1" chisel, when you're only cutting a tiny fraction of the wood. I have rehandled my smaller chisels with smaller, shorter, lighter handles. I actually don't even own 2 chisels of the same brand. I just kinda ended up with a very small collection of w/e I needed at one time or the other.

Regarding soldering, I started out as a hobbyist with a Radio Shack firebrand for 2 years. Then I upgraded to one of the cheapest temp controlled stations at the time, branded by one of my store/suppliers I still occasional use, thinking it was smart because replacement handpieces are 5.00 and tips only 1.00. Compared to this, 65.00 for a replacement Hakko 888 handpiece seems like highway robbery. But then I bought a Hakko. And I feel like you don't need to buy replacement parts, ever. In over ten years, not an issue. With my previous cheaper station, I went through 2 handpieces, a broken heater, and several more tips in less than half that time. Not to mention tip selection, ergos, lack of power. For an occasional hobbyist, I think even the cheapo stations are probably sufficient. I do a lot of soldering, and a good station is worth it to me.
Shock:
Now that you can get T12 clone kits for cheap the Unisolder is a bit pointless. Those Russian completed boards go for $140 each which makes it more expensive than buying a complete name brand station once you have everything you need. I noticed they don't support the Pace TD-200 but they support the older Pace TD-100 handpiece.

These two videos illustrate the Pace TD-100 heating up on standard and performance tips. It also shows the tip change process in "slow motion". The heating on the Pace ADS200 with the TD-200 iron has improved on that and in reality tip to tip swapping is about 5 seconds :D.



Navigation
Message Index
Previous page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod