What soldering Iron

I am looking for a multi purpose soldering iron kit on ebay, it is to be used for pretty much any jobby that comes along.
I have a little gas soldering iron and to be honest its pants :roll:

I would like a kit as they have the magnifier glasses in them and I am in denial that I need reading glasses for close up and the magnifiers look temping

So have you guys any recommendations?

Oh cheap is good too :lol:

For most jobs you can get a 40w for about a tenner. Anything less can be a bit under powered. It really depends on what you want to do with it. For working on a desk/bench then a reasonable solder station can be bought for about £50 with variable temp settings unless you go up market and costs can go mad. If your working outside on the car then factor in wind etc so 40-60watt would be better.

Mostly inside or in the cab of the car, not much outside.
Cheers.

After some 30 years in the electronics industry the weller soldering station was the staple item but a bit pricey.
A VERY good general purpose iron is the ANTEX XS25. This has large heat sink changeable tips with sizes available for most situations. The tip it comes with is a very useful general purpose tip. The ANTEX is the one I use the most and is the one I use on site and at home.....I have 3 of them. A stand with the cleaning sponge if available and is well worth the extra, it's weighted so it don't float around the bench :dance:

Ste,I bought the Black & Decker Ci500 craft and soldering station kit, Amazon are advertising it at £22ish at the moment.
Its been great, kids enjoy the woodburning ability too.
I picked up a "helping hands" table stand with magnifyer from a cheapy shop - together the whole lot works well.

sounds expensive :sick:

I have to be honest its just for emergency use as luckily where I work I can get stuff sorted professionally that I wouldnt dream of trying :oops:

(we refit and refurbish forklift trucks)
Thanks for the input
:thumbup:

I had one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Decker-Ci ... B000QI329M same as big dav. It's well priced and comes with handy arms. At work I use an antex http://www.maplin.co.uk/productsearch?criteria=antex

You thought about getting a better gas one? solderpro or weller are good, as they're handy for portability, stay away form the battery ones they are only about 8w. Failing that lidl or aldi sell a good one every now and again.

Another handy addition to your soldering tool collection would be a "desoldering pump". Really useful at creating nice clean workpiece.

I got a little powercraft gas one that's been brill Ste what's up with yours mate???

I like the BD one Brian :thumbup:

Might get the Mrs to revive her art degree and make stuff :lol:

Bobby, it was a cheapo one from Halfords and just doesnt get hot enough unless you cuddle it and the tip is like a navvies thumb :lol:

Mine sometimes gets too bloody hot, i melted a tip once by accident! :oops:

Now your just rubbing it in :lol:

Here's mine Ste.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gas-Soldering ... 3381921fb9

Looks better then the rubbish I bought :oops:

I found it very good value Ste. But mine was only £11.99 from Aldi.

I also bought mine from Aldi http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/sp ... _27230.htm

Booo non in Aldi, thanks though guys, more to it than I thought :shock:

I've got one of these mate http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Blue-Point-sn ... 3382007ae5 and if you can afford to spend the extra, they are well worth the money.

I got mine nearly 20 years ago now and it's still going strong. I bought a new tip for it about 5yrs ago but other to that it still plods on and does everything I ask of it and it's great for car wiring as you've got no lead to keep getting in the way.

That looks a good one there Mark!!! :thumbup:

They are genuinely a good bit of kit mate

I know that the quality of some of the snap on stuff has tailed off a little over the last few years but last time I looked they still sell these new (although they are now branded as Bluepoint) and the design doesn't seem to have changed from the one I bought 20yrs ago which kinda speaks for itself.