Soldering

When trying to choose the right soldering iron, you need to consider a couple of things. If you want to solder a very old, rusty piece of metal, you would need to have a solderer that has a very high flux percentage. Flux takes off the oxidation from your metal that you want to solder. If not, your solder will not stick to the metal. When soldering, you need to apply the soldering irons to the metal that you are soldering, not the actual solder. If you do, the flux will burn away before it can do its job. You will end up with a blob of solder that will not stick to anything. If you want to apply heat to the metal faster, you will need a flatter, longer soldering iron tip because there is more surface area to heat the metal. If you are doing more detailed soldering that requires more precision, you need a pointed tip soldering iron. But before you think of doing any of this, you need to learn to tin your soldering iron tip. To do this, you need to apply a little amount of solder to the tip of the soldering iron and then flick it off. Then apply a tiny bit more and leave it. You are now ready to solder.