I’ve gotten to a point where I can’t really avoid soldering anymore, so I’ve had to put together some equipment for electronics work… and it’s about time anyway!

Tools:

Soldering Iron:

A standard electronics tool used to heat solder. There are also different soldering iron tips to swap out.

Heat Gun:

Used for heating heat shrink, and I also use it to clean up stringing and surface quality on 3D prints.

Helping Hands:

Used to hold items that you are soldering, so that you don’t have to hold the item and solder at the same time. This one has a magnifying glass, but I don’t find it too helpful. I may have to get a magnifier lamp or jeweler’s magnifiers in the future.

Wire Strippers:

I’ve got these in two different sizes for different diameters of wires.

Flush Cutters:

These are for trimming the leads off of components on circuit boards.

Crimping Tool:

This allows for the use of solderless connectors.

Breadboards:

These are useful for prototyping circuit layouts before committing to soldering.

Multimeter:

For when you need to check voltage, amperage, or resistance in circuits.

Tool Caddy:

This one may seem a bit odd to bother listing, but it means I can grab one container to put on an outdoor workbench and get to work without having to grab a bunch of individual tools. Doesn’t have room for parts, though.

Consumables:

I store most of these separately from the tool caddy, as they can vary more from project to project.

Heat Shrink:

Plastic sheathes to slide over wires, and then shrink under heat to insulate soldered connections.

Crimp Connectors:

These allow for solderless connections, and with some of these the wires can be detached and reattached for maintenance items.

Solder:

Pretty obviously needed. I use a rosin core lead-based solder. I have to make sure to wash my hands thoroughly after I touch the solder because of the lead. There are lead-free solders, but from what I’ve been told they don’t work as easily as the ones with lead in them.

Wire:

Some of it is for prototyping on the breadboard, some is for the actual install. I’ve got a few different kinds for different purposes… and some of them happened to come with kits.

Personal Protective Equipment:

Safety Glasses:

Standard safety item number one. Just in case anything goes flying at your eyes, like cut wires or solder.

Fan:

This may seem a bit weird to put under this subheading, but a properly placed fan keeps the toxic fumes away from my lungs.

Workspace Protection:

Heat resistant mat:

This silicone mat prevents the hot solder droplets from hitting the work surface, so that it doesn’t get scarred or ignite anything.

Soldering Iron Stand:

A safe spot to put the soldering iron down without damaging things. It also has a built in pad for cleaning the tip.