Homebrew PCBs

I'm with the majority here. I started out with an "economy" 
soldering iron and very quickly regretted it. Thing took centuries 
to heat up and lost temp very quickly. I finally gave in and bought 
a Weller WTCPT station. Not fancy, temperature control is in the 
tips not on the station. The difference was staggering though, heats 
up in < 1 minute, doesn't lose temperature when soldering. Has a 
nice range of tips (which seem to last a LOOONG time).

As for the QFP - Some things I've read said that going with a fine 
tip might actually be harder than going with a wide one. They said 
go wide and solder several pins at once. Check for bridges when 
you're done and remove with a soldering wick.

I haven't tried a QFP but I have tried some SOTs this way. Seems 
that the solder rarely bridges unless you put loads of it on. Even 
then I usually just turn the tip sideways and reheat one of the pins 
and the bridge melts away in an instant.

Doesn't take a lot of practice to do this really. Thing is that I 
usually have the fine tip on when I'm soldering SMT caps and 
resistors etc and I can't be bothered to change tips (cool down 
time) so i just do them one pin at a time.


--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Moore" <pminmo@c...> wrote:
> Want to hand solder 44pin qfp's.  Need a new soldering iron that 
> won't break the bank. (less than $50).  Suggestions?
> 
> Phil