What soldering station do you use for intricate work?

Just looking for ideas really, as I saw someone using one of these....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-SAIKE...Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item337f0b6328

I'm more of an Antex man myself, but this Saike unit didn't look half bad.

 

Here is one I bought a few months ago:


http://www.amazon.com/Tenma-21-1013...qid=1375391218&sr=1-1&keywords=Tenma+21-10130

 

Hakko FX888 and
el-cheapo hot air station for SMD work (like you have in the picture)..
The black plastic guard around the nozzle melted in the first hour of use with leadfree solder paste temps. But it still works. Did plenty of 0402 resistors with it and plenty of multi-pin IC's

 

Pace ST55, and an older analogue Pace ST25, very good irons. Could do with some hot air though...

 

In my opinion you can't beat something like the Weller Pyropen with a fine tip for intricate work.

 

I have been very happy with my MetCal station. I've done lots of 0.5mm pitch and even 0201 parts with it. I can also use it for pretty large heatsinks and hardware mounts.

 

I bought a Yahua 937D off ebay for really great price with free shipping and it has performed extremely well and uses the common Hakko replacement style tips which are also available very cheap. It tokk 37 seconds to go from stone cold to the set soldering temp that I dialed into the display when I turned it on. I'm pretty sure it was less than 50 dollars US and came with 1 spare element and a set of 10 spare tips for different applications. I'm very happy with mine and I regularly solder 40 pin pic chips onto boards or install ZIF holders if the chip is going to be moved later on. Either way it has a very nice fine point tip and the heat is dead on to what it show on the readout. All in all I am satisfied completely.

Wheelchair Bob

 

I bought a Yahua 937D off ebay for really great price with free shipping and it has performed extremely well and uses the common Hakko replacement style tips which are also available very cheap. It tokk 37 seconds to go from stone cold to the set soldering temp that I dialed into the display when I turned it on. I'm pretty sure it was less than 50 dollars US and came with 1 spare element and a set of 10 spare tips for different applications. I'm very happy with mine and I regularly solder 40 pin pic chips onto boards or install ZIF holders if the chip is going to be moved later on. Either way it has a very nice fine point tip and the heat is dead on to what it show on the readout. All in all I am satisfied completely.

Wheelchair Bob

Sounds like a nice station for a decent price. The 37 seconds isn't too bad, though I admit I am pampered by the fact that the Metcal generally is ready to solder in about 5 seconds.

I got my Metcals at an auction when the local TRW plant when out of business. I got them for $85 each. At the time, the same units were selling new for nearly $3000. You can now get pretty comparable stations new for about a tenth of that price, so I am still very glad I got mine when I did. One of the two best equipment investments I've ever made -- the other being the binocular microscopes I got at the same auction.