Soldering

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Advice for tool ; bad sight (piefed.blahaj.zone)

submitted 1 day ago by melimosa@piefed.blahaj.zone to c/soldering@lemmy.ca

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Hello,

I am a student / cleaner worker in EU. I do digital (mainly Intel 8051 and 6502) and analog (for mod synth) electronic, in a very low budget DIY way.

The thing is, I mainly work on breadboards, because my bad sight don't allow me to do very good soldering. However, I've been desoldering, scrapping and repairing PCB and electronics for like 5/6 years now, and it is still very hard despite this (little) experience.

I have success on THT with big components, although this is not the cleanest work. I would like to reduce the form factor of my work / stabilise it, but this often means smaller components, maybe SMD, and tight spaces, which I currently can't work well with.

In the last 2 years I've been searching for accommodations, things like better soldering iron, smaller tips (Currently for tight spaces and small pads I use thin Pinecil tips), better quality tin (with lead), flux, building helping hands, desolderings tools and consumables etc... This helps a lot but this is really not enough. I know that, in the end, I need some sort of magnification device.

The thing is, magnification devices are not cheap, at least for good quality and usability. I also don't have the money to "just try" one. I've been reading review, watching videos about some, talking to some friends etc.. but most people either don't have sight issues, or have "this very expensive microscope that only engineers can afford". This also comes with the fact that I fear to need to wear my glasses when using the device.

Soooo, I was wondering if there was some people out here with the same issues, or with experiences on some tools etc... any tips is welcome :)

I'm sorry if this question has already been answered, I didn't find it. If so, please link to the thread I'll be very happy :)

xoxo
~melimosa

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[–] Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I like ring lamps for this. Here is a link to what I mean. I don't have this one but something similar.

Good lighting in your workspace is really important. I like a mix of color temperatures

https://www.esslinger.com/impressart-led-magnifier-ring-lamp/

[–] melimosa@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago

Thanks !

Yes I've been thinking a lot about lighting. My sight problems are greatly impacted by the lack of light.

I already have a 2 led lamps, they provide enough light and have a great range of motion.

Maybe one day I'll go with a ring lamp w/ or w/out a magnifier on it, but I already know that for soldering this is not enough for me (a friend of mine lent me one a couple of years ago).