Electronics Tools Suggestion

KN4THX

The more I play with my Raspberry pi and tinker with Retropie, the more I am starting to delve into playing with the hardware, soldering, etc. For desktop PCs I have worked on over the years, a standard Phillips or two does the trick. For the smaller tasks such as laptops,wiis, etc, I have used cheap precision kits I have laying about that I have gotten as stocking stuffers, etc. Those don't seem to hold up though as the handle always seems to be cheap plastic with soft bits, or inaccurate bits since they probably come from a cheap Chinese plant. While these have worked great here and there, I would like to invest in a higher quality long term kit and was curious what you professional tinkerers use for precision bits. Everywhere I look seems to have the same poor quality reviews, though some like ifixit have slightly better reviews.

I have learned my lesson with soldering irons recently and would like some suggestions for the screwdriver bit kits. Anyone have any that stand out, or do you just use one and replace it when your favorite bits wear out or snap?

blackshadow

not a professional by any terms and im sure others will be able to supply far more info than i can i personally use a WEP 2 in 1 Airgun and Solder Station with variable temperature the manual is a pile of broken chinenglish but aside from that the station itself is rock solid been using it for the last 5 years without a single hiccup(though i would advise replacing the original solder stand it comes with as that soon starts to degrade from standing a hot utensil in it aside from that im damn impressed by it think it was around the £50 mark and getting new tips is not a problem

edmaul69

@thedatacereal ifixit has some nice bit kits. Check them out. I wont use any other ones.

KN4THX

@edmaul69 Do you go for the whole kit which includes the plastic separators? If so, do those seem durable?

edmaul69

@thedatacereal i have a ton of stuff from them. Post a link of what your talking about.

KN4THX

@edmaul69 Something along the lines of this, although I probably only need the bits and can makeshift the miscellaneous stuff.

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Pro-Tech-Toolkit/IF145-307

edmaul69

@thedatacereal they sell the bit kits separately. I have purchased them both ways.

VictimRLSH

I prefer gas soldering irons, you get instant temp control as they heat up and cool down very quickly.

KN4THX

@victimrlsh I never even though about gas or realized that was a thing. I guess that makes total sense though, now I have a new thing to research 😁