Tools Needed for Soldering

Series Summary

Knowing how to solder is a handy skill to have in your repertoire. There is a myriad of projects that require soldering, from repairing wire connections to fixing circuit boards. Learning how to solder using a soldering iron is easier than you think and can be learned rather quickly. In fact you can learn how to solder and pro soldering techniques for free from one of our experts online.

In this free how-to video series, learn how to solder from soldering expert Ken Orlich. Ken has been soldering for over twenty years and will teach you what he knows about soldering, including what tools you need for soldering, how to save money soldering, and soldering safety tips. Ken will demonstrate soldering techniques such as how to remove solder, how to use a wick to remove solder, how to solder a capacitor to a circuit board, how to solder a resistor to a circuit board, and how to tin a solder iron.

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Ken Orlich on behalf of Expert Village. In this segment, we are going to basically go over the tools that you need to solder. For this segment, I have two kinds of soldering irons. One is a butane soldering iron. They are very useful because they are self-contained, they travel well and you have real good control over the heat, if you can listen there. I don't know if you can hear that. There you go; that's the butane coming out and they light from either a spark or a match. This is an electric one. This is as basic as it gets. No temperature control. You can change the tips. These are super cheap and can be found pretty much at any Radio Shack as of this. This is a solder. I recommend using the finished solder possible for any kind of soldering. If you need more you just push more. But if it is too thick, there is chance of getting just a big old glob and then it is harder to work with. Solder usually comes in two varieties; silver solder or 60/40 as this is. Sixty/forty if it is cheaper; it works just fine. Risen core; you need the risen core because that is what is called flux and that helps to solder it here. You will need a sponge. This is a special soldering sponge. It has little slits in it to kind of wipe the tip end. They have waterless ones as well. This is a solder pump which I will show later to remove solder and this is a solder wick which is also another way to remove solder. That is the basics of the tools that you will need to solder. "