Hello all, seeing as I will no longer be building my bike up this weekend figured I may aswell get my hexacopter build started so I need to learn how to solder.

Thus, can anyone recommend me a soldering iron that is:

Available to collect in person,
Fairly good quality,
Not expensive.

Cheers!

Think mine was, all these years ago, from Radio Shack/Tandy. Perfectly good enough. Maplins would be default choice I’d say.

As ever, maplin will be your best bet, TEMPERATURE CONTROL!!!, And patience get some wick as well.

I picked one up from Maplin and have no complaints.

Get a soldering iron. They’re great.

Aye, get yerself to Maplins. Antex are good, if they do them, mine is over 20 years old. Replaceable tips and temperature control are a must.

Remember, heat the thing you’re soldering, not the solder.

I’m always burning the flex on mine. Are the wireless ones any good?

I’ve got a gas (butane) one (from Maplin) and it’s been fine.

interchangeable tips and varyiable gas delivery for changing heat (although it’s not that variable!)

Problem I find with the butane ones is you need to be careful of the exhaust – they’re great for things like soldering wires on a bike or something, not so good for more detail stuff I find.

true – plenty of scope for burning things

Hmmmm….. Burning things…. 😈

Ok, you can’t collect it, unless you happen to live near one of their retail outlets, but this is the best “value” soldering station i’ve ever used:

RS Soldering station

Cheap, robust, good temp control and easy to use.

I prefer the butane ones, at some point you’ll need to use it in a car, or on a bike etc.

And they usualy come with a blowtorch attachment which is great for lighting a stubbourn BBQ.