another thing is that I have bever had a helping hand that has lasted longer that a couple months they just seem to fall apart and it doesnt seem to matter at which price point I buy them either as their all mad just about the same. I bought a panavise instead
http://goo.gl/WrQRF I havnt a clue if that a good price or not as I didnt get it from there. the one bad thing about the suction cup model os it only works on non porous surfaces since it a suction cup but now all the surfaces i work on are porous so im thinking about getting 2 of the ones your supposed to bolt to you workbench and mounting them to a board?
Also i would recommended good full spectrum lighting it makes everything so much easier to see I bought 2 of these
http://amzn.to/19tQJSN but that was before you could just get light bulbs
http://amzn.to/19tR1sO So now I would just buy a set of those bulbs and a pair of these
http://amzn.to/19tRgUJ (they also have ones with stands for those of you cant clamp it to your table/desk/workbench.
for hand desoldering pumps I recommended either
http://goo.gl/5r45g or
http://goo.gl/4MhbZ they do also make which I would like but
http://goo.gl/4qGAX but I havnt been able to find it anywhere but direct from them and their shipping is crazy high.
the Hakko 808 is a great desoldering iron from my experience but the price is steep compared to just a hand pump. But if you do get one I would recommend getting
http://amzn.to/19tTyTJ so you have a stand to put it in and
http://amzn.to/19tTNhR so you can tun it off without have to unplug the darn thing.
The Hakko 633-01 is also in my eyes a huge upgrade from the standard stand the comes with the 888 and the whole for the wire sponge and wire sponge it self is much larger. Another benefit is that paint chips dont come off and get stuck to your iron. i personally thought that it was a bit light when I received it so I added a bunch of lead weight to it since I had it lying around but I think that a personal preference thing. Also for those of you people that prefer a normal sponge the 633-02 is the same stand just with a standard sponge.
I have a multimeter and it seems pretty nice but I havnt a clue what brand or anything as i got it for a present one year, though it does support monitoring from a PC though a serial port. The heat gun that I have is just a standard milwaukee dual temp ehich I think is all I need right now and I was able to pick it up at the local Fleet Farm with a gift card I received. Its basically fool proof which most of their heat guns are, just dont get the digital read out one i know a few people that have had it and they only complain and usually returning it for one of their more simple models.
I also would recommend some nice hand tools as I had a crescent set and a set from radio shack that under regular use broke, dulled, or just plain wore out rather quickly. Lindstom was recommended to me so i bought a single wire cutter that I though fit what I was using the old ones for and that was the model 8148 which has been wonderful not even a sign of wear yet. I plan to but a few more different pairs of cutters and pliers. But from what I have been told by a few people that use their products is stay from the ergonomic squishy handled blue ones as it feels like you have much less control well using them. They also have nice tweezers and though I havnt bought I assume their build is just as good as their pliers. As for screwsrivers i was recommended Moody Tools if your in the US their quality is supposedly bar none
http://goo.gl/vCMIM this is the set i hope to purchase at some point
http://amzn.to/12ekZhK replacing my craftsman set
http://goo.gl/6gUwA which at the time was the only set i could find that had all the sizes I needed for ripping apart laptops. it is by no means great most of the chrome ones have lost their coating the rubber grip just spins on many of them bit I guess the do the job.
As for solder I use Kester 44 either 63/37 or 62/36/2. Also for some of my own projects I use WBT 4% silver solder
http://goo.gl/xR3JhHopefully this was all helpful and if you have any questions let me know.
on a side note I am looking for some nice solder wick and I was recommended chemtronics but i have no idea what kind I should get otherwise.
