First DIY for someone who has never soldered?

[Rabid]

I’m thinking about trying a DIY but I’ve never even soldered before. Any tips on where to start and what to get? Not just a Eurorack kit but also the accessories I need to do the job. What brand of solder and soldering iron. Good instructional book. Good online source for this stuff. Stand, magnifying glass, fire extinguisher… and, … what kit to start with.

[tony d]

I started with the cheapest ass soldering iron i could find and had terrible luck w/ it.It wasn't until i upgraded slightly to the iron i currently use (velleman vtss5) that i started being able to solder components and get circuits to work properly.I'm sure you will get mixed reviews on were to start w/ an iron but for me just having something w/ a variable temp. control made a huge difference.
This iron is definitely not going to get praise from probably anyone because it's pretty cheap and you can only use 1 style of tip with it but i have successfully built a klee sequencer and a bunch of other circuits w/ it.

As far as circuits go, the very first thing i did was go to a local electronics shop and ask for advice on were to start and was handed a couple of populated pcb's and my $8 iron and told to just practice desoldering and resoldering components on these boards and check continuity to see if i was making good solder joints.I then moved into buying cheap little kits ie. christmas trees that light up, binary counters,etc. Once i was finally able to get those to work and felt comfortable i started with synth circuits. I think the first ones i did were from ken stone or ray wilson (mfos)

While i was going through this time period i just described i picked up some books that are aimed at the very beginner. 1 that i still reference is "getting started in electronics" by Forrest mims. This book will also go over different tools,types of solder,and useful accessories. Another good one for me which is more involved and deals with more audio applications than the previous book mentioned is "Basic electronics theory" by Delton Horn. I know there is many more out there that will get recommended so you'll just have to check them all out and see which ones you feel you'll understand the easiest.

I really still have a lot to learn but if you are just gonna populate pcb's that other people have designed the circuits for you can get by w/ a very limited understanding of what's actually going on, until something doesn't work and you need to troubleshoot and that's for me when i really start to learn things.

Good luck and try not to get to frustrated it is a very satisfying thing when you complete a project and power it on for the first time.

[tony d]

Also, you may want this moved do d.i.y section.

[parasitk]

Also, you may want this moved do d.i.y section.

Good point.

Edit: Moved – I think you'll get more feedback on the topic here!

[pleaseohplease]

Most important....a good soldering iron.

when faced with the 10 dollar variety versus the 50 or 60 dollar variety you might be inclined to go with the cheaper. but not all soldering irons were created equal. and a cheap soldering iron will hold you back significantly.

Next...the forest mims book above is good introduction. usually can be picked locally at radio shack. Also this book has proven invaluable for me...

Also, picking up some small albeit cheesy kits is a great way to practice. start small and build up.

Once you start feeling confident and have practiced with building enclosures and such, I would highly recommend the flight of harmony kits. Wonderfully professional and well documented.

good luck and have fun!

[falafelbiels]

desoldering stuff!

[decaying.sine]

Check out Kwote's post with the tools of the trade on his site.
viewtopic.php?t=839

Can't beat the Weller WTCPT soldering station. I had a bunch of radio shack soldering irons, and my skills improved a lot as soon as I switched.

Kester solder, 331 (for the pcb) and 245 (no clean for pots, etc) are good and recommended by Paul Schreiber and he is freaking a Nasa certified/compliant solder master guy.

I use a radio shack desoldering pump and have a desoldering wick too.

It's nice to have a fairly good set of snips for cutting things, and it's nice to have a lead bender for quicker pcb stuffing.

I have a pcb holder that rotates and stuff but I never use it anymore. I also have a couple other little holder things and I don't use them either. Of course, I have been known to hold pieces of solder in my teeth for an "extra hand" on occasion so take all this with a grain of salt!

You can always get a bridechamber kit to help get you going. I have found that i get a certain peace out of sourcing my own parts for builds and now have a good supply of common stuff.

My best advice is to just go for it. Get a PCB, get the parts and go fucking nuts. Even if you lift a pad or something, you can always fix it. If you put something in wrong, you learn how to desolder well. There are lots of really well documented builds out there for a variety of things so you can approach confidently.

Oh, also, when I was first messing around with soldering, I just made patch cables to get the feel for it. It's a good learning tool and great to make your own too.

[slovo]

I wanna second most of what's been said here. A cheap soldering iron may even help you damage sensitive components, since you will leave them hot for too long. I use a Hakko 906, which is more expensive than you need, but I found it on sale and I like it a lot. You should absolutely NOT practice on any modular kits or expensive kits of any kind. You should definitely get a ton of cheap resistors and practice soldering them to cheap board. One thing I learned the hard way (btw, I learned by watching Youtube videos, tho I am by no means an expert) is that you may not need tons of tools to get started, but they help A LOT. As far as things to buy, you really only need solder, iron, desoldering braid and vacuum. But I highly recommend that you also buy several pairs of clamping tweezers and preferably a desk/bench-mount vise. Basically, you will wish you had three more hands at all times, so anything that can help with this is a MAJOR time saver. Other than that, I'd say, don't forget to have good ventilation, a damp sponge (tho I really like gold curls), and PLENTY of LIGHT!

Oh and have fun, good luck, all that.

[consumed]

after 'practicing' a little bit , i got started on motm kits and learned a lot. i followed much of this advice:

http://www.synthtech.com/tutor/tutor1.html

[pleaseohplease]

ah, yes, super, super important to me are the "helping hands". sometimes they aren't necessary, but when they are, they *really* are. And also the "good" tool recommendations. bad tools will just ruin your day. in short, if you plan on doing more than one project, don't buy any of this stuff from radio shack.

[BugBrand]

Contrary to what everyone else is saying..... you CAN start with a shit iron! I quite happily use cheap ebay irons for my WOM events (you may find some of the info useful in the PDF there). In fact, there have been a few times I've used one of these shit irons due to weird necessity and work is perfectly possible IF:::

KEEP THE IRON CLEAN

That is the most important part, in my reckoning. Even an expensive iron will solder like shit if it is dirty. I like the kind of wire-wool cleaners for the solder tip - clean, tin the tip by melting a little fresh solder onto it and you're good to go again.

Oh yeah, one thing that isn't in my PDF -- think of where your soldering hand is placed --> I always say to get it resting on the table so you've got good stability. Then move the PCB around to get good soldering position -- the line of attack!

But, yeah, spending a bit more on a better iron would def. be worth it in the long run.
Waffle-over....

[fonik]

i read through the thread and prepared myself for being the bogeyman about soldering irons, but then i read your post, tom!

me too started with a very cheap soldering iron i bought at the hardware store out of a bargain bin. it even had no removable tip. i then bought the psycho LFO PCB from ken stone and even soldered the ICs without socket. it worked from the start.

today i use a 15$ soldering 'station' with analog temperature control. works for me. i keep the tips clean, and change them on a regulary basis. and i found the solder that works best for me: Sn62 Pb36 Ag2

today i would recomment to start with one of these well documented projects from ray wilson's MFOS.

[wenzel]

I'm with Bugs here, you don't have to spend a lot of cash on a soldering iron, I started with a rat shack iron, and it saw me through a lot of builds before I decided to upgrade (when it broke - and no, I still don't have temperature control). You could argue that you'll end up upgrading eventually so why not just get a good one to start with, but on the other hand, you might just want to keep costs down while you decide if DIY is for you.

Get a tin of tip tinner, it'll keep the tip bright and shiny, and without it you may end up with a soldering iron that won't solder. This is what I mean: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062721

Needle nose pliers are essential, as are some small wire cutters. Also get yourself an automatic wire stripper, something like this http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062787 (although I've not used that exact one) because it'll help doing panel wiring, which is one of the more fiddly parts of synth DIY.

When it comes to deciding on a kit, one of the the most important considerations is the amount of support you'll get if something goes wrong. Most builds work from the start (and I'm always amazed when they do), but you might get unlucky and that's when you need people to help you out. I'm going to plump for a MFOS soundlab as my suggestion for a first build, as the documentation is great, and so many people have built one. Just go over to http://electro-music.com/forum/forum-99.html and post a question whenever you're unsure.

Whatever you decide, good luck! Synth DIY is the best hobby.

[wenzel]

Looks like Fonik beat me to it!

[loydb]

You might also want to get one of the cheap 'practice solder' kits to learn on. And be sure and watch YouTube vids of people doing it right...

[sduck]

I soldered together my first bunch of modules with a 25w rat shack soldering thing. It works fine, except the tips pretty much get useless pretty fast - they're made of some cheap metal that doesn't stand reheating well. Now I use a 45w (?) weller soldering thing, which works about as well, but the tips last a lot longer.

And what everyone else already said too.

I second the advice to get some cheap stuff to practice on. I pretty much destroyed 2 paia kits in my learning process - thankfully they were very cheap and expendable.

[Rabid]

Thanks for all the information. I'll do a lot of reading and check out some of the sites mentioned here before I get too deep.

... you might just want to keep costs down while you decide if DIY is for you. ...

That is key for me. This can easily add up to $300 in supplies and a good soldering iron before I even look at a kit. The one thing I worry about is eye site. Mine is not the best and I have hit that age where it seems to get worse every day. A good magnifying glass and light will be essential.

[slovo]

$300!? No... Shop yon Internets, old-timer! A good soldering station will only cost $50, solder and wire only $5, braid and pump $10, clamps, tweezers maybe $25 if you really go all-out, and magnifying glass type stuff maybe $10. With shipping it might break $100. If you want to get cheap shit get cheap shit, but for Bob's sake avoid Radio Shack. At least the cheap stuff on the internet is actually cheap...

[sduck]

and I have hit that age where it seems to get worse every day. A good magnifying glass and light will be essential.

Yes. Me too. I just use a couple of different kinds of cheapo reading glasses from the drug store, and a really high wattage light over my workbench - although a desk lamp would be a good addition (why haven't I thought of that before?)

[attacksustain]

this looks like a fun toy, and a fairly easy build. I think it has even fewer components than the MFOS WSG. (for sure it has less knobs )

[skweeegor]

I used cheap radio shack irons for a long time, and it usually ended with frustration. You don't have to spend a ton either though for something that will work well for most projects. This is the one I have now, and the absolute cheapest I would recommend buying:

http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/C ... 7103593597

Weller WP25.

I got mine for 30$ on sale, so they're only a bit more than the radioshack ones, but of MUCH higher quality. Also, it's easier to find a tip that will fit when you need a different one or a replacement - that part was always a nightmare with the no-name irons.

[Rabid]

$300!? No... Shop yon Internets, old-timer! A good soldering station will only cost $50, solder and wire only $5, braid and pump $10, clamps, tweezers maybe $25 if you really go all-out, and magnifying glass type stuff maybe $10. With shipping it might break $100. If you want to get cheap shit get cheap shit, but for Bob's sake avoid Radio Shack. At least the cheap stuff on the internet is actually cheap...

Well, the first thing I did was look up the Weller WTCPT on Amazon. $132.59. Today I found some other Weller's that are much cheaper.

[slovo]

How's it goin for ya Rabid?

I wanted to share, I finally broke down and bought a roll of Canare Quad mic cable (got a really really good deal) and have been building my own cables. I'd made some a little bit, before, but actually buying a whole roll of cable was a commitment I'd foolishly avoided for a long time. Custom cables are cheap in Hong Kong, better even than internet prices most of the time, but now that the modular is in full swing, and I am going to have a patch bay soon, and my guitarist friend is a pedal maniac, I realized that what I really wanted was cables in very exact lengths, and I wanted them on demand.

First Time DIYers, take note! Sure, you could experiment with a few small pieces of cable, but you're more likely, at that stage, to only see the hassle. Using cheap cable to replace something you could buy at radio shack is really just a hassle. But buying a whole roll and redoing your whole studio in quality, perfect-length cable for just a couple hundred dollars (ok, plan on $300, small studio) is pretty great. And you'll get a lot faster.

I also wanted to share, been using the second method listed here to deal with the pesky braided sheath. A little tricky, but a big time saver!!

Next step is to find a good deal on some GS-6 cable, since the Quad cable is a bit overkill, and overly inflexible, for short runs for modulars, pedals and patchbays. Though my old L2T2-S cables weren't a whole lot more flexible, so, hmmm...

[decaying.sine]

How's it goin for ya Rabid?

I wanted to share, I finally broke down and bought a roll of Canare Quad mic cable (got a really really good deal) and have been building my own cables. I'd made some a little bit, before, but actually buying a whole roll of cable was a commitment I'd foolishly avoided for a long time. Custom cables are cheap in Hong Kong, better even than internet prices most of the time, but now that the modular is in full swing, and I am going to have a patch bay soon, and my guitarist friend is a pedal maniac, I realized that what I really wanted was cables in very exact lengths, and I wanted them on demand.

First Time DIYers, take note! Sure, you could experiment with a few small pieces of cable, but you're more likely, at that stage, to only see the hassle. Using cheap cable to replace something you could buy at radio shack is really just a hassle. But buying a whole roll and redoing your whole studio in quality, perfect-length cable for just a couple hundred dollars (ok, plan on $300, small studio) is pretty great. And you'll get a lot faster.

I also wanted to share, been using the second method listed here to deal with the pesky braided sheath. A little tricky, but a big time saver!!

Next step is to find a good deal on some GS-6 cable, since the Quad cable is a bit overkill, and overly inflexible, for short runs for modulars, pedals and patchbays. Though my old L2T2-S cables weren't a whole lot more flexible, so, hmmm...

check out the prices here for GS-6. I've bought most my cable from them including canare gs-6. I haven't shopped around too much looking for better prices because Redco is located about 15 miles down the road so I get the whole immediate reward thing. However, I think others around Muff's have also shopped at Redco and been generally satisfied.

http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=543

[slovo]

Much obliged, but I'm in Hong Kong! But yeah, everyone seems to rave about redco... Wish I were in the US sometimes, I'd be veeeery tempted by stuff like this!!