My first go at electronics

One trick when soldering wire to wire like that, put a small amount of solder on each wire a little extra flux won't hurt, now when you solder you won't need any additional solder so you have a hand free to hold one wire or reposition the connection...

You should also always use some type of current limiting when using LEDs...

And one last thing, is that a fire resistant mat under the helping hands? If so an interesting addition, as I have said before I like using a 1x1 foot marble tile under the area I solder, I simply like the feel of natural stone...

 

Great start!
I wish my working table would look like that!
(at the moment I have to shovel away approx. 1 cm of components before each new project...)

 

Since I see you are in the UK, I'm assuming lead free solder? If so you will have to adjust your iron to whatever blend of lead free solder you are using, check the manufactures recommendations and don't assume your iron is calibrated... You will develop a feel for what temp works best for what application in time... You also might need to clean the tip or re-tin it to get better transfer of heat...

 

Calibrated soldering iron? How posh. I just melt the stuff and be done with it

 

I usually solder with the thermostat on 370-380°C.

 

It really depends on how far gone the tip is, if it's a new tip with little to no oxidation you won't need to sand it, if it's a tip on it's last legs and you are trying to milk it for some extra life you can try sanding it... I try to avoid sanding if at all possible as I have found it's more of a bandaid fix, and a properly maintained tip will not need it...

Here is what I would suggest, get yourself some flux, for this I like a grease flux... Crank the iron up, not to full blast but lets say 400 for you, let it stabilize at that temp, now dip it in the flux, roll it around a bit, take it out and flood the tip with new solder solder, now immediately wipe it on a damp sponge, repeat a few times until the tip is clean and tinned properly, the tip should be a consistent dull 'tinned' color with no dark or black blemishes... Now at the end of each soldering session, put a big glob of solder on the tip and let it cool and harden on the tip, this will prevent further oxidation when not in use...

 

That is tip cleaner, I have never used it myself so I won't comment on it's effectiveness...

As for flux I looked over the Maplin site quickly and surprisingly didn't see any flux besides the stuff in pens, and I find that odd...



That is what I'm thinking of, something like Kester SP-44 (although I believe that the SP-44 is now discontinued) there are of course others... There are a lot of offerings on Ebay but beware, there is for some silly reason a big counterfeit flux market out there so sometimes ordering from China is hit or miss, you might get flux or you might get actual grease... A tub like the above will last you a lifetime if it's just used for tip cleaning, if you are using it for other purposes it's best to get it in a syringe for easier application...

 

Probably not, I think the flux used for plumbing is different from that used for electronics.

Bob