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lelanthrantoday at 10:03 AM1 replyview on HN

I second this comment and it really should have been higher in the hierarchy - WTF are you going to do with an expensive setup that a lit magnifier and controllable iron (with interchangeable tips) can't?

If you need a reflow oven, that's a different thing altogether, and you should probably repurpose an old toaster oven.

I delivered production boards (small run) that looked and worked great using a non-adjustable $10 30w iron (interchangeble tips, though) and a desklamp with the builtin magnifying glass.

You can't really tell the difference between a cheap setup and the expensive solder station I used in a previous employment.


Replies

Liftyeetoday at 12:00 PM

Hard to justify for a beginner? Sure.

"Can't tell the difference?" is not true, once you're dealing with small enough parts.

Can I use a magnifier to solder 0.4mm pitch parts? Sure. Would I prefer a binocular microscope? 100%, every time. Both usable, not the same.

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