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Recommended Soldering Iron

My son wants to build his first headphone amp (kit). He's asking for a soldering iron for Christmas. Can anyone offer up some information on what I should be looking for? He wants to start off with one of those Altoid can amps and work up to tube. I don't want to go too cheap but rather a decent one he can sell if he loses interest. He's 19 so we don't need the Easy Bake Iron. Any information is greatly appreciated.
donjr
ngjockey
1,042 posts
 
Some of us don't always need a professional grade Rigid when a Ryobi at a third the price will last for years of occasional use.

Radio Shack has a nice digital soldering station. Probably a rebranded Chinese clone of something.
s7horton
1,077 posts
 
I also use the one Peter mentions. It's ver nice.
stuartbmw3
91 posts
 
You might also check out the Hakko

http://www.bdenterprisesinc.com/hakko-fx-888-soldering-station/

I just bought one and am really pleased with it.
leahy's avatar
leahy
80 posts
 
Hakko FX888 Very nice, comes with a great mesh tip cleaner. Wish I had bought one a while ago.
donjr OP
1,335 posts
 
Thanks for the great information everyone. After a little pricing research it's down to the Weller WES51 or the Hakko FX-888. It looks like Amazon Prime is about the lowest price I can find. I'll probably monitor the prices on Amazon for a couple of weeks as I notice they tend to fluctuate quite a bit.
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