solder recomendations

[ellukay]

I'm putting together an order on Amazon for my first soldering station and the basic tools to get me started with this hobby! So far I have the Hako fx888d station with t-18 D16 chisel tip, de-soldering wick 2.5mm, nonmagnetic tweezers and a solder sucker. ( these items are currently in my cart but I haven't placed the order yet , so if you see something I should change....) I currently have lots of magnifying equipment including a stereo microscope so I think I'm good with that.
Right now I'm looking at solder. I'll be starting out with the basic re-cap of speaker crossovers and amp/preamp type work. I'm Looking for recommendations from the group on type of solder (ie. 60/40 or 63/37) and what gauge might be best. Also any recommendations for other tools I might need would be great!

Thanks Luke!
(Woops!I feel like an idiot cause I just saw the sticky on this.....Sorry)

 

[ken kantor]

Nice avatar! A few ideas:

1- Add one larger tip for connectors, chassis work, etc., and one smaller tip for fine pitch IC's and SMT.

2- A small tube of good electronics flux.

3- Magnifying goggles are much more useful than microscopes or magnifying lamps. I keep a 3x and a 5x handy.

4- Either 60/40 or 63/37 is fine. Depends on what you are soldering to. Maybe I would go for the later if I had to choose one, but really no big difference.

5- What does make a huge difference is the quality of solder. Ersin Multicore is worth the premium. Kester is OK, if you buy their better "RA" stuff.

6- Width is totally application dependent. Unless you are often soldering large parts, probably you should go for a small tube of fine 0.015, plus a roll of 0.031. Some people prefer .062 for their go-to diameter, but that's something you will learn over time. (Oh, a tube of 2% silver can be quite useful to have around.)

Hope this helps!