When the tool you need doesn’t exist, you have to make it yourself. Come to think of it, even if the tool exists, it’s often way more fun to make it yourself. The former situation, though, is one that ...

[Lee] has a Hakko FR301 desoldering gun and a Duratool knockoff. He freely admits that the Hakko is probably better, but he wonders if it’s good enough to justify being four times as expensive. He ...

A soldering iron should have a feel and a grip that makes it easy to hold in your hand, as if it were a large pen. For electronics, you want a slim, needle-like tip to aid in getting the heat (and ...

If you need to make some simple electronics repairs, but don't have a soldering iron, you aren't completely doomed. You can use plenty of other tools, along with almost any heat source, to solder ...