This is a kit and requires a heat gun. It also requires a multimeter that you plug into a receptical to test resistance. I'm going to see if I can make do without a heat gun (we'll see). The temperature settings in the pdf manual says it goes up to 750 F or more and I had thought it or another model went up to 950F. You have to be careful because one of the models / units doesn't come with an iron.

It is relatively low cost and can accept a 1/64th inch soldering tip which is sold seperately for $3.

The BlackJack SolderWerks Hot Air System w SolderIron & Mech Arm (BK5000) is sold out and discontinued before I could buy one. The next model up is more expensive and it was already generally more than I wanted to spend. This is basically a 40W iron with variable heat and the fact I can get a 1/64th tip means that I can get pretty close so we'll see if I can do surface mount soldering.

The alternative was buying handheld irons with replaceable tips. One of the local guys in my neighborhood found a cheap radio shack iron. He told me to file the tip or buy one that uses a replacement tip. He gave me the links which are handy but I decided on the one above because it offers variable heat and can accept 1/64th inch replaceable tips. This may be helpful if you want to do electronics on the cheap.

I'll see if I can post pictures and post the project and then maybe I can finish my Sparkfun Joystick shield (daughterboard).

I'm actually in the market for a new iron!

I received my kit today. It is basically a SR-6 Soldering Iron that plugs into a base that has the following to control the temperature; a potentiometer, a resistor, a capacitor, a diode, a diac and a triac.



The nice thing about this kit is that I can start using the iron without building the rest as long as I don't burn anything with the iron. (I'm pretty sure I don't want to use a 40W iron on everything.) The tips screw out and it is recommended that I remove the tips periodically so they don't bond to the heating element.

The instructions also say I can use a lower wattage iron but I might ruin the copper tracts on a PC board if I use 50W and greater.

Although you might have different plugs in your country, our electric is basically 110 or 120 volts. This is where I bought mine:

http://cs-sales.net/sr6.html