Those that are looking to get more involved in electronics usually end up wanting to buy some equipment to be able to do soldering. The question that comes up time and time again is what exactly to buy. I put together this list of equipment which is the basic kit you'll need to get started doing serious solder work.
Hakko FX-888D soldering Station w/ diagonal cutters - $91
The Hakko FX-888 is probably the best value for money in a soldering station. It's a temperature controlled station and uses the very high quality Hakko tips.
It may be too pricey for those on budget, so if it's really out of your price range, take a look at one of the Hakko 936 clone stations which can be had for under $50 and change out the iron tip with a genuine Hakko tip which are about $10. But. save up because you'll want to get this one eventually anyway.
Hakko FX-888D soldering Station w/ diagonal cutters - $91
The Hakko FX-888 is probably the best value for money in a soldering station. It's a temperature controlled station and uses the very high quality Hakko tips.
It may be too pricey for those on budget, so if it's really out of your price range, take a look at one of the Hakko 936 clone stations which can be had for under $50 and change out the iron tip with a genuine Hakko tip which are about $10. But. save up because you'll want to get this one eventually anyway.
 | Hakko diagonal cutters - $4.37 These are really nice cutters, especially for the price. The way they are angled you can almost use them as flush cutters and they're great for trimming long leads on through hole boards. They do eventually wear out, but for under $5 it's not a problem. I use my worn out ones to cut things I'm not supposed to with them like plastic cases. |
 | Solder - $7 This is some Kester 60/40 rosin core solder. My favorite brand is actually Multicore and I like using 63/37 better, but it's hard to find in small quantities. Kester is a good brand and I buy these small tubes for solder sizes I use less often. |
 | Solder sucker - $6 If you do any soldering, very quickly you will find the need to do some desoldering. In order to desolder through-hole components, you will need a solder sucker to pull solder out of the hole. |
 | Solder flux - $8 *check Digikey Flux is the #1 key to soldering. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you will be successful at and enjoy soldering. I recommend using rosin flux and this tube from SRA makes applying flux to your joint easy. |
 | Solder wick - $7 *check Digikey Solder wick is like a sponge for solder. You will use wick anywhere you need to remove solder, except from through holes (which is what the solder sucker is for). There's a lot of terrible solder wick out there which is generally useless to harmful. Don't cheap out; get the good stuff which is what this MG Chemical wick is. |
 | Wire strippers - $10 These are decent wire strippers similar to the Hakko cutters. They aren't the best but they're more than serviceable and, again, great for the price. I use these and I haven't found a reason yet to pay for more expensive ones. |
 | Helping hands - $7 *check Harbor Freight Helping hands have alligator clips to help you hold parts close together so you can solder them. I have some similar to this I got at Harbor Freight for a few dollars. |
 | WEP 858D Hot Air Rework Soldering Station - $55 (optional) Hot air stations blow hot air to melt solder. They are very useful when working with surface mount (SMD) parts, especially when you need to desolder SMD components (sometimes called "rework"). They can also come in handy for desoldering multi-pin through hole parts because they can heat up all the pins at once. And, hot air is almost a necessity if you want to solder BGA package components. This hot air station not the greatest, but it's adequate for hobbyists, and better stations can cost $400 or more. Most hobbyist don't need a hot air station, so consider this item an optional, but very nice-to-have. |
*check for lower price
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