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Mikhail Naumov

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It's too long to fit so I had to pastebin it. I hope this helps anybody who needs it, truly.


ALTERNATE:

https://pastebin.com/QgvPLmXT

Added Info:

WHAT TO BUY:

Soldering shit:

So this one is actually kind of hard when you have no idea what to look for. A lot of people will tell you to go for a $100 Hakko VW station or some ungodly expensive setup with LEDs and god knows what else.

You can do this, by all means do so if you have the money. Though, you probably don't, so what do you buy?

Well, the easiest place to start here, logically, would be what NOT to buy. I like to avoid unregulated irons on principle, but you CAN use them. Just do not buy an iron that is rated for a higher power than you need. 25W, 30W is all you need for the kind of soldering you will be doing. Sometimes 35W-40W can help with things like rapid desoldering and such, but as a rule 30W is usually PLENTY. So do not buy any unregulated irons rated for lower than 20-25W or higher than 30W. Also, avoid cheap, $10 or less irons of ANY kind.

Also it's a good idea to avoid the $50 setups that look like a $500 setup. There's a lot of SMD stations on Ebay and Amazon. SMD is an odd company, they make a lot of good shit, and a lot of really shitty shit. It's a dice roll, but once you get familiar with the individual products you can learn what to look for. Avoid the ones with a bunch of LED screens, 10 dials and all that shit. That's just a LOT of shit that can fail, and will likely fail. They seem to love selling rework stations, which includes a hot air gun alongside an iron. These guns aren't of much use to us unless you really want to salvage a FET off a PWM board or something, so don't think it's something you need. They do make nice ass on-the-fly heat shrink.. shrinkers, though.

So go for the ones where it's just an iron, a variable dial, and no more than one or two LEDs, but no LEDs is ideal honestly. I bought a 900 series SMD with just an iron and a dial with a 50W range a while back, it came with an iron, the station, a stand with a sponge AND brass cleaner well for the iron, five spare tips, 2-3 feet of solder and a roll of desoldering wick. $30, and I use that station to this day, have for over 8 months. Still works like a dream. When it comes to these products, learn what to look for and for the love of god READ THE REVIEWS.

If you don't want to roll the dice on one of these stations, you can go with something a little more tried and true. They sell 40W variable dial Weller stations in the $35-$50 range and they come with a wonderful iron and tip combo, a station with a dial knob, a good iron stand with a sponge well and a quality that will last years. This is plenty for the bare minimum, and I've seen Wellers from the 80's still kicking, so they will LAST you by god.

A desoldering air pump is also a good idea, as is solder wick. This will make desoldering your fuck ups a lot easier and a lot less painful overall.

MIKHAIL'S RECOMMEND:

$10-$15 budget (lowest): Vastar 60W Kit: www.amazon.com/Vastar-Adjustable-Temperature-Desoldering-Anti-static/dp/B01547OES2

$20-$35 budget (low): Stahl Tools SSVT 40W: www.ebay.com/itm/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Variable-Temperature-Soldering-Station-/321456079471

$30-$40 budget (recommended): SMD 937D+ 45W: www.ebay.com/itm/937D-SMD-Soldering-Hot-Iron-Station-Digital-Adjustable-w-5-Tips-Japan-Heater-/111386626580?hash=item19ef290a14:g:4JYAAOSwvzRX0TK8

$50-$80 budget (high): SMD 995D 2in1 Solder/Rework 80W Full LED Station: www.ebay.com/itm/2in1-Rework-Soldering-Iron-Station-SMD-Digital-995D-Nozzles-ESD-PLCC-BGA-/371509162320?hash=item567fabf150:g:bygAAOSwKtlWlcGd

$85-$100 budget (highest): Hakko FX888D 65W: www.ebay.com/itm/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station-110-120-Volts-ESD-Safe-65W-Iron-/181493834002?hash=item2a41e02112:g:mHsAAMXQ74JTQWOj

DRILLING:

Not much to say, as step bits are your best friend for drilling on a budget. Just get a few good step bits, and you're on the way.

I HIGHLY recommend you buy a set of the Brimstone 3D Hammond/ATI enclosure drilling templates. $22 gets you a WHOLE set of every common size and you will have gorgeous, centered holes every singe time.

Also, wear fucking safety glasses.

MIKHAIL'S RECOMMENDED:

GR Titanium Step-Bit Set ($15): www.homedepot.com/p/Grand-Rapids-Industrial-Products-Titanium-Coated-Steel-Step-Drill-Bit-Set-3-Piece-35326/206515496?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cG%7cBase%7cPLA%7cD25T%7cPowerTools&gclid=CjwKEAjwjunJBRDzl6iCpoKS4G0SJACJAx-VAoswTvXfsQiIsqnbS34YedpRzaRQAZq5B6IyvLhT-RoCItLw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

ETC:

HEAT SHRINK. USE IT. Also, don't just go to the Home Depot down the road and buy a couple of packs. Go on Ebay or Amazon and buy one of the giant ass kits of heat shrink that has like 20-30 tubes of over 15 sizes that will last you a LOT longer for a LOT less money.

Flux paste for soldering. You don't NEED it, but god damn it makes things easier.

A heat gun, or a hair dryer of some high power. Don't use lighters, as it can melt the solder, damage the insulator/tubing and it's just.. eh. Get a heat gun or if that's too much, use mom's hair dryer to shrink it down.

Wire strippers, because you WILL damage the strands doing this with wire cutters and will also do an unclean job on the cut.

Wire cutters, speaking of the devil.

Wire, 12AWG-16AWG silicone stranded copper/silver wire for any load connections, 24AWG-30AWG stranded copper/silver wire for pot/switch/meter connections. Buy in bulk, you WILL save money.

A good pair of needle nose pliers is a godsend, so get some. The best kind are the kind without the treads.

Epoxy, lots of fucking epoxy. FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST DON'T USE SUPER GLUE.

If you ever intend on having volt meter slots on your mods, it's a good idea to invest in a set of files. A lot of people would assume a dremel tool is best for this, and if you really know what you're doing it can be. A dremel IS useful, especially for doing shit like knocking out the magnet/screw holes inside enclosures to make extra room. But, despite this, I have discovered that a square file and a good thin corner file will do a good job. You just get something to mark the area of the meter like a print out template you can download 15 different places or make, then drill a few small pilot holes. About 3-5. Then from there, take your files and just go to town. Use the square files to remove the bulk of the material, the use the corner files to clean up and get the corners nice. Boom, volt meter slot. Though a good number of the ATI CNC Enclosure series includes pre-cut .28 volt meter slots.

Speaking of which, ATI CNC Enclosures are your best friend. Anodized paint jobs, aircraft grade aluminum, nail nick on the lid, hidden magnets and NO LEAN from the factory. If you want to do the painting and shit yourself, go with a Hammond and sand the sides down before painting it. The point here is, you're gonna need enclosures. Brimstone 3D has a few good 3D printed ones, Hammond makes a decent ABS line of some of their enclosures, or you could go with custom stab wood or some niche shit.

If you're making unregulated mods, STOCK UP ON FUCKING MOSFETs. Don't you DARE think of just wiring it to that chintzy 3A vandal. PFET's are great for switch setups and mod meters, but if you like it simple, a standard N-Channel 3034 will get the job done. Also, buy a pack of resistors. It's basically a lifetime fucking supply of that resistance type when you get ONE pack.

As a finisher, any time you can afford to buy extra stock, do it. Because you never know when you're gonna get a dud, you fuck something up, shit fails, etc. If all goes well, well damn, now you have extra stock to use which saves money. It's always a good idea to have extras of things, and if you're a modder like me, the more stock you have, the less waiting your customers do.
 
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Squonkamaniac
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I can see the content....thanks.
 

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