There are many more experienced constructors than I on this list, and I am sure that many will be forthcoming with suggestions.
What I would say is that I have always found soldering difficult using such a fine soldering iron tip. I have always used a larger tip, I guess around 0.1in, even when soldering fine stuff including Elecraft kits for which a smaller tip is recommended. The only difficulty that causes is the risk of bridging adjacent solder pads on the board, which is not much of a problem if you keep the bit clean, especially if you have a steady hand and sharp eyes (which I used to have, though not any more unfortunately.) I think the slight inconvenience of sometimes having to remove a solder bridge is offset by the much reduced risk of having a bad (dry) joint caused by not heating the component leads up enough. So I really think you'd be better off using a chunkier bit. But see what others advise. -- Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392 K3 s/n: ??? G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf On Nov 20, 2007 9:07 AM, rellis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi, > > Having purchased a K1 kit, but never having soldered before, I've > been working up to it by working on some other kits, such as an > electronic die, a signal generator, and an active null modem. I'm > using a hakko 936 and I have a .05" chisel tip. The solder that > I'm using is kester SN60PB40 #66/44 .025. (It is my intention to > use this solder and the .05" tip when working on the K1.) > > There are some peculiarities with soldering that I'm uncertain about. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

