Lighted Magnifying lamp diopter power for SMT circuit board soldering

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Greg Furtman said:
I have found that the small chisel tips work the best for me. They heat the pads faster as they have more contact area than the conical point tips.
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Agree with you, and the chisel needs to be sufficiently small. I tried a chisel tip that was a tad too large and created quite a few solder bridges. Ruh-roh... I ended up with this conical which has a 0.031” tip and it works well for me.


https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ETP/ETP-ND
 
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cerving said:
If you get that thing working then any of our kits will be a breeze. The smallest parts we use are 0805, and that's only on the Mini, Quark, and TRS; the others user 1206's. You can almost solder 1206's without magnification... unless you have old eyes like mine.
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On the Quantum I thought the smallest part was a 0402 size (the .1 uF capacitor). Or am getting my sizes wrong.
 
I don’t believe the Quantum uses anything that tiny. I’ve built about 5 so far. Actually I just cheated and looked at the parts list. All caps are 1206.
 
cerving said:
If you get that thing working then any of our kits will be a breeze. The smallest parts we use are 0805, and that's only on the Mini, Quark, and TRS; the others user 1206's. You can almost solder 1206's without magnification... unless you have old eyes like mine.
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My bad ...I am getting my sizes mixed up. I looking forward to build other Eggtimer kits. Incredibly affordable.
 
I have tried several adjustable soldering stations, hot air, even paste and a hot plate...

Then I found this little gem. What the heck, couldn't hurt to try it - and it knocked my socks off!!

Seems to be the perfect amount of heat for smd parts, and has become my go-to tool for EGG kits. I do use a bigger iron for the antenna mount, but for everything else... Portable USB 5V 8W SOLDERING IRON

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Yup, looks pretty damn cool. Might just give 'er a shot. Worst that can happen is you're out 4 big ones;). I'd say that's a reasonable gamble, especially since the cord on my Weller always twists up on me and ends up knocking stuff around at the most inconvenient times...
 
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That pic above was taken through my magnifier lamp and a crappy plastic H.F. 7.5X loupe. That's a standard round toothpick and a single grain of minute rice for comparison. Magnifier stacking works wonderfully..
 
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Wallace said:
While we're on the topic, have Y'all seen this yet. One of the handiest board soldering tools I own..https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/magnetic-circuit-board-holder-for-soldering-station.156210/
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Thanks to Wallace who gave me the idea I made some magnetic board holders yesterday. I just took some very dense mahogany I had, cut 2 pieces an inch high, kerfed both near the top just wide enough to get a PBC in, drilled a hole in the bottom just big enough & deep enough to push in some small circular Neodynium magnets in. I use it with an old metal toaster oven tray. Took maybe 10 minutes.
 

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For the soldering, I'm using 20 year old Metcal irons I picked up (one surplus, one free). They are great. A couple of tips (maybe three?) cover everything I want an iron for. I have a toaster oven and hot plate for batch jobs, but I don't use those much.

For magnification, I use this Optivisor https://www.amazon.com/Donegan-OptiVisor-Headband-Magnifier-Magnification/dp/B0015IN8J6/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=optivisor&qid=1576780152&sr=8-4 There are a lot of clones out there with "Optivisor" in the name; I don't know anything about their quality. But I can wear one of these for hours without getting eye fatigue, and I can do 0603 without pulling out the scope. I'm an EE and a ham, and after getting one of these at work, I bought one for home.
 
Everything is a tool. Use what works best for you personally. I wouldn't even shrug if I walked by and saw you using a piece of toast for positioning..
 
RFMan said:
For the soldering, I'm using 20 year old Metcal irons I picked up (one surplus, one free). They are great.
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Metcals are my second-favourite irons. I got to use one back in about '85 when they first came out. These days I prefer the JBC because I can select the temperature without changing tips.

tOD said:
Looks like a Quark. Working on one now. A wooden toothpick is my preferred tool for positioning and holding parts while soldering
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Whatever works for you is ok. Tweezers take a little time to acquire the skills but are probably a better method in the long run. YMMV.
 
RFMan said:
For the soldering, I'm using 20 year old Metcal irons I picked up (one surplus, one free). They are great. A couple of tips (maybe three?) cover everything I want an iron for. I have a toaster oven and hot plate for batch jobs, but I don't use those much.

For magnification, I use this Optivisor https://www.amazon.com/Donegan-OptiVisor-Headband-Magnifier-Magnification/dp/B0015IN8J6/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=optivisor&qid=1576780152&sr=8-4 There are a lot of clones out there with "Optivisor" in the name; I don't know anything about their quality. But I can wear one of these for hours without getting eye fatigue, and I can do 0603 without pulling out the scope. I'm an EE and a ham, and after getting one of these at work, I bought one for home.
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You’re a lucky / smart guy - as you no doubt know as a fellow EE Metcal stuff is as good as it gets! A new setup is cost prohibitive for most hobbyists, unless you do a LOT of soldering. I looked at their hot air setup, and a minimal setup looked to be around $800 by the time you were done. We have a lot of nice Metcal stuff at work, but I shy away from using it on personal projects.
 
:D
tOD said:
Looks like a Quark. Working on one now. A wooden toothpick is my preferred tool for positioning and holding parts while soldering
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So, Minute Rice is not your "go to" positioning tool:D?
 
If egg timer products and other casual soldering projects, is where my soldering skills will probably end up, would the PS-900 be worth the extra $175 for thee ultimate soldering station/experience?? Just thinking.

Geoff
 
gcanroc said:
If egg timer products and other casual soldering projects, is where my soldering skills will probably end up, would the PS-900 be worth the extra $175 for thee ultimate soldering station/experience?? Just thinking.

Geoff
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I'd get the Hakko. It will be better than good enough. Think of all the Eggtimer kits you could buy for $175. :D
 

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