When I started soldering everything was big and had leads that went through holes in the board. You inserted the leads, bent them over to hold the component, flipped the board over, soldered everything, and trimmed off the excess leads.

Now I’m soldering things down to 0402 SMDs (1/4 the size of the smallest component in the picture) using a needle point soldering tip and a microscope.

A pair of 2N2222 transistors, one SOT23 and one TO-92.

  • hoodatninja@kbin.social
    2·
    1 year ago

    I cannot express how grateful I am for this. I’ll be making some purchases tomorrow for sure. I also have a buddy getting rid of an NES so I know exactly where to get one!

    • MapleEngineerOPMEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      I’m happy to help. I hope that everyone here will be. I wish that I had been able to talk to other people who were soldering when I was a kid but that was back in the days before the Commodore 64.

      If you have questions, please ask here. I’m sure that people will be willing to help.

            • MapleEngineerOPMEnglish
              2·
              1 year ago

              OH. Heh. Well…if you sub to the YouTube channel you WILL be number 12.

                • MapleEngineerOPMEnglish
                  1·
                  1 year ago

                  When you get some equipment post some pictures and let us know what you bought. I am going to Walmart tomorrow to buy the cheapest soldering iron they sell. I plan to remake the SMD soldering videos to show that it can be done. I love soldering and I want to help make it accessible and to remove some of the fear for anyone who has been hesitating.