Homebrew PCBs

Roy,
    The ones we had made by Pace used a thin wall stainless steel tip.
The tip got hot. These days I use a heat gun (PaintStripper B&D) to
remove parts from proto boards so I can reuse them. To replace a part
I cut the pins of the part next to the body of the device. I then heat
and remove one pin at a time. I sometimes use a solder sucker to open
the holes after that or a toothpick with flux on it.

                                                     John