So, with Maker Faire over and done with, I was unpacking soldering stations yesterday night. Those benches had been a huge mess for weeks, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to try and make things easier to keep workable. To do that, I’ve packed some stuff up, put some stuff out, and made room for other things. Hopefully this works for everyone, and we can keep it a bit more usable.
http://i.imgur.com/0nS5KZs.jpg
VHS has a lot of temperature controlled soldering stations. Around 16. They tend to break down into four groups:
- Hakko 888d
We’ve got three of these, and I’ve set them up on the soldering benches. We’ve got plenty of spare tips for them.
- Weller WES-51
We’ve got five of these (two digital, three analog) and a few spare tips on hand. I’ve put them up on the shelf above the bench, so that they can easily be taken over to the other benches/tables. Please return them when you’re done!
http://i.imgur.com/Nj1Q54p.jpg
- “The Clone Army”
http://www.leisto.com/file/thumb-cache/936-ef7e4a6bc660d061ee1a6197678de2d1-832.2x350-100-crop.jpg
We’ve got 5 of these. They use the same tips as the hakko 888s. Their inexpensive clones of the discontinued Hakko 936.
With 8 other stations, I don’t think we regularly need this many stations outside of workshops, so they end up tangled up on the benches. I’ve packed them into a bin on the top of the soldering benches, ready for workshops.
- “Misc”
We have a few temperature controlled stations that are singular - two old wellers of different vintages, and two pace stations that also do desoldering (Currently lacking filters). The Pace stations are worth keeping, the old wellers might be good to pass on to a young hackerspace or “garage sale”? they use different tips than our other gear, and are somewhat more finicky. For now, they’re in a bin above the soldering bench.
We’ve also got a bunch of assorted non-temperature controlled soldering irons, including the “red weller” stations that are variable power - might be items worth selling on.
Hopefully this works out, and let’s us keep the stations more usefull!