Earlier quoted context omitted.
they put RISC-V in a soldering iron?
Sure, why not? It's OK to have fun with tools.
I was going for a "they performed surgery on a grape" thing but it seems I missed the mark
I hate soldering
211–220 of 244 posts
Re: I hate soldering
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
Starting with soldering, I find these 200$+ recommendations (regardless of which tool) hard to justify. # Soldering iron I'd recommend the Pinecil V2 with IronOS. https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS # Solder fume extraction I've built a simple fume extraction with an old plastic case, a 120mm fan and a sheet of carbon filter attached to a 120mm dryer / air conditioning hose. Around 15$ and good enough for soldering from…
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 $1…
This is a weird take to make before you actually ask the question.
I design and prototype devices for a living. I use a combination of reflow and hand soldering depending on which stage of the process I'm working through, and/or how much trouble I might be having with some aspect or another.
For example, there have been times where I've successfully dead-bugged QFN-24 to a PCB, allowing me to verify a fix and save myself several weeks and several hundred dollars.
All of these tools are only expensive in a vacuum. The moment you're relying on them to create products, and assuming you value your time correctly, you can see them for what they are: usually one-time fixed expenses that end up saving you thousands of dollars in board revisions that you never had to order.
Meanwhile, lots of people use cars as part of their job. Even a shit car costs many times what my soldering tools cost, and nobody would show up on HN to imply that they don't need a car.
Re: I hate soldering
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
> "Can't tell the difference?" is not true, once you're dealing with small enough parts. Yeah, but that's the qualifier - "small enough parts". Go small enough and even an expensive iron isn't going to help you.
Except that we're on HN so it shouldn't really surprise anyone that I'm using these "expensive" tools to solder and correct 0402 and sometimes 0201 parts.
Effectively impossible without a stereo microscope.
Re: I hate soldering
#214Soldering is ready for disruption by robots or 3d printing. It just needs someone to take the problem seriously and not aim for quick wins for marketing clout.
Re: I hate soldering
#215This is somewhat off topic, but a question to Americans: Why do none of you seem to pronounce the "l" in soldering? Every US video seems to say "soddering"
This question is impolite, just so you know.
Re: I hate soldering
#216For anyone thinking about learning to solder, there are several levels of what you can do with a soldering iron. The surface-mount stuff and ovens and microscopes, that's like level 3. Level 1 is just being able to take two wires and connect them, reliably and cleanly. That's already immensely useful and requires very little skill and equipment. $50 gets you a nice soldering pen, another $50 gets you some tweezers, s…
In my head, the levels are exactly swapped. Connecting two wires together reliably is harder than through-hole in my experience. Through-hole PCBs are actually designed for solder, so surface tension basically does your job for you. Also, with the PCB you have a solid surface to push on, whereas with two wires everything's a little bit more loose. Lastly, if you want the connection between the wires to actually be re…
Same for me. I find through hole easy and can do it reliable. Soldering 2 wires together...I always mess it up. But its something I rarely do.
Re: I hate soldering
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
A thousand grand, (for SMD). I prefer my Hakko, (and THD).
I've got nothing against personal projects that use THD. However, unless you're making simple circuits, avoiding SMD means that you are effectively constraining yourself to about 20% of the ICs being produced today. It's also simply a fact that producing a product using THD components is a massive headache. It takes far more manual effort, most contract manufacturers will charge a pound of flesh, and the components a…
No, I was being semi-facetious. I too have learned that a number of components are no longer being made THT. I have done a limited amount of SMT but it is not a lot of fun for me.
Instead, I have been testing the waters my SMT PCBs having them also assembled now when I order them. It kind of saddens me though.
Re: I hate soldering
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
> # Desoldering Pump > > Because I needed it (beginners won't) Funny you mention that, because I just instructed someone how to solder for the first time and on probably their 4th joint they needed the desoldering pump because they added too much solder. I think it's easier to teach a beginner how to use a desoldering pump than how to use desoldering braid.
A hand operated solder sucker is like $5 though, they are talking about the station based ones that can be used to desolder the entire board with little effort.
Ah yeah I missed they were talking about the station ones, beginners definitely don't need that.
Re: I hate soldering
#219This is somewhat off topic, but a question to Americans: Why do none of you seem to pronounce the "l" in soldering? Every US video seems to say "soddering"
This question is impolite, just so you know.
No, it isn't. It's never rude to respectfully try to understand how others speak. If it were, we'd have to shutter all the linguistics departments.
Re: I hate soldering
#220This is somewhat off topic, but a question to Americans: Why do none of you seem to pronounce the "l" in soldering? Every US video seems to say "soddering"
[deleted]