If you end up doing a lot of projects soldering components on circuit
boards, you might decide to spend extra — sometimes quite a lot extra —
to get a soldering iron with controls that allow you to change the wattage,
or even one that senses the temperature of at the tip of the soldering
iron and adjusts the power to keep the temperature stable.
Stand:You need a device to hold the soldering iron. To ensure that it
doesn’t tip over with a hot soldering iron in it, make sure that the stand’s
base is heavy enough or that you can clamp it to your worktable.Damp sponge:You will use this constantly to clean the soldering tip
between soldering jobs.
Solder wick:This piece of flat, woven copper wire — also called a solder
braid— soaks up solder when you need to rework a connection and
need to remove a dab or two from a joint. Some folks use a desoldering
pump to suck up solder, but we find that a wick is easier to use.Solder:Solderis a material that when heated and then cooled, holds
wires and other metallic connectors together. The standard type used
for electronics is referred to as 60/40 rosin coresolder, which is 60 per-
cent tin and 40 percent lead with flux at its core. This fluxin the solder
helps to clean the items you’re putting together as you solder. We sug-
gest you use a 0.032" diameter solder, which is small enough to help you
keep the solder where you want it to go.
Tip cleaner paste:This paste is an option for keeping your soldering
iron tip neat. Although using a damp sponge (see its earlier bullet) will
keep the tip clean for a while, a good cleaning with tip cleaner paste now
and then is a good idea.You can read about soldering safety in Chapter 2.
Drills that come in handy ....................................................................
You will use drills for all kinds of tasks, from attaching wheels to the body of
an electronically controlled kart to drilling holes in boxes to fit switches,
lights, and much more.
Drills commonly come in^3 ⁄ 8 " or^1 ⁄ 2 " chuck sizes. (The chuckis the opening in
the drill where you insert the drill bit.) This measurement tells you how large
of a drill bit (its diameter) will fit in the chuck. For the projects in this book, a
(^3) ⁄ 8 " drill is just fine. Drills come in cordless versions as well as the type you
plug into a wall outlet. We prefer cordless drills such as the one you can see
in Figure 3-2, along with an assortment of drill bits.
Chapter 3: Assembling Your Electronics Arsenal 33