I was surprised last night with the NerdKits Newsletter which had a small blurb about my last project, the 40 LED valentine heart. Plus, I got my yearly bonus at work and decided I needed to quit messing with these discontinued, old-model soldering irons, so here's my new baby:

I picked it up as a discontinued floor model at Fry's Electronics (the model isn't discontinued, Fry's has just stopped selling these models) for $149. It goes for $300-$350 anywhere else. THEN, my wife also surprised me with weekend tickets to the Maker Faire in San Mateo this coming May which should be pretty cool. So, yeah it's been a good week. Sorry to rub it in if you had a bad one :(

Ted

Don't worry about 'rubbing it in' - you deserve it, well done mate! Although I am jealous.

Hey Ted,

That looks awfully familiar :D. At that price, you should have bought several and sold them on e-bay. You could have funded quite a few projects with the profit!!!

Congrats on the station. Trust me you'll LOVE it. I know I love mine. I can't imagine going back to an old regular iron now. BTW, my 3 favorite tips -- LTK, LT1, and LTB.

LTK good long narrow chisel tip LT1 good short pointed tip LTB good wide short chisel tip (good for ground planes)

YMMV

Thanks Rick, I knew if anyone would comment it would be you! I told you I was jealous before! Heheh. Anyway, yeah I ended up getting the LTH and LTS additional tips. Then whatever it comes with, looks like an LTB maybe. I tried to get a LT1L (long reach LT1) but it was on back order. I just got it today so I have yet to even try it. I'm sure I'm gonna love it. I'd better!

If they'd have had more I would have probably done what you mentioned, but this was like the last one in the entire Fry's Electronics stock, I think. I got lucky...

I was going to try out the LT1L as well but mouser was out of them when I was buying some tips for mine. I really like the LTK though. I've kind of adopted it as my all purpose tip. Fits well in tight places but not as sharp as the LT1's

When I got mine, I couldn't wait to fire it up to see it hit 660° F in less than 30 seconds. It put a smile on my face. I've found with this station, I don't leave it on during the assembly of a project like with my old irons. It heats up so fast I shut it off between the addition of components.

I'm sure you'll enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine and will get many years of good service from it.

HOE-LEE-COW!! I just plugged in the iron and as soon as I clicked the switch, the temp said 112 and started climbing by what seemed like 50 degrees F every half second! It literally hit 660 in 15 seconds TOPS! This is gonna be like night and day! I love the way solder just poured onto the tip like syrup over hot pancakes as soon as I touched the solder to the tip... folks, invest in a good iron I say!

BTW, I forgot to say thanks to Steve. SO, thanks Steve! ;)

Ted

I just got a Weller myself (a lesser model) and I am loving it. Those things heat up quick! Much better than the 30W electric cigarette lighter from radio shack I was using before. Congrats on your new addition!

Yeah, treymd I'm convinced Weller's are the way to go, I mean yeah there's the Aoyue ones made in China that are a little cheaper and you can go for a $500 Metcal if you are that rich, but for overall quiality and selection, they can't be beat IMO.

Rick, when I ordered some tips for another iron that I plan to sell, this site had the tips I needed that retail for 12-15 bucks everywhere else, for $3 ea. THe guy i dealt with was named Bruce and seemed like a real easy-goin guy, very pleasant to deal with, and while I didn't notice them listed on the site, he did let me know that he also had the LT tips for $4 ea. He's real fair on the shipping too, charged me like $2 for 3 tips and a sponge. In the email he sent me he said he had these ones in stock now: LTA, LTB, LTC, LTK, LTL, LTM, LTS, LTAS, LT1L, LT1S, LT1, LT1X, LT4X, LT1SLX.

Having used the LTS and the LTH and the LTB that it comes with I definitely need a chisel in between the LTB and the LTS. On your recommendation, I think I'm gonna order an LTK and that LT1L I wanted.