Continuing on from help and advice with etched brass parts. I purchased and received a Hold and Fold from the States and am delighted with it, many thanks to those of you who e-mailed about it.

Does any one have any advice re suitable soldering irons? There is such a huge choice, it is hard to know what would be best.

I have found some irons by Weller; A temperature controlled soldering station that will do temps from 200 to 400 deg C and also a couple of 12W Mini irons that have a Micro tip 0.65mm up to a Fine tip 2.4mm.

If any one has some advice on make/model I would be very greatful.

Many thanks,

Sam.

Hi Sam,

I use a 12watt iron made by 'Antex',I got mine from my local model railway shop. It was around Ģ18-00 sterling, heats up quickly, comfortable grip & the 'iron' part itself isn't too long. Mine came with a pointed tip, which is perfect for PE stuff, but there is a huge range of tips available which just push on. Most important is to use a good solder & flux. I can recommend 'Carr's' no.145 detailing solder, Green label flux & also their neutralizing rinse. I use these to solder just about anything, copper & brass tubing, wire & PE. Above all, two suggestions. Don't buy an iron whose tip is held in place with a screw or grub screw, as soon as the iron heats up it'll come loose, guaranteed! & also don't skip on the neutralizing rinse, the flux is corrosive & if left the joint will begin to corrode even after just a few hours.
Hope this helps,(if you can be bothered to read it all!),
Darren.

i have a bottle of this and low temperature solder (but not yet a soldering iron...).

At which temperature is this supposed to be used and how do i get around to find the correct soldering iron to go with this?

I imagine that this was once bought in order to be able to solder white metal stuff as well, but will it work on PE and brass as well?