What soldering iron

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Thanks to all for the suggestions. I bought a cheep iron from RadioShack awhile back but It is very bad. The tip won't get hot enough to melt the solder and the handle gets way to hot. I don't want to make the same mistake twice so I'm willing to invest a bit on my next iron. Money is all ways a concern so I'm looking for a the best value out there
 
I am using the fine Metcal and suggest it altho this unit is anything but cheap.

I have one at work (my own), another at home and a spare power supply and wand though in 10+ years I've never had a failure. That's how much I don't want to be without it. We've bought 3 at work (besides mine) off eBay for $175, $190 and $250. Also my previous employer has 6 units - all from eBay. I've been soldering 50 years and nothing else comes close. Just my $0.02

 
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Prefer Hakko FX888 when in US for price to performance ratio and abundant spares sources. Also a much better tray than the 51. Too expensive in Europe unfortunately, steps in ERSA Icon Nano and OKI Metcal PS-900 territory. New Weller models don't seem to build a good rep among experienced users lately.
 
New Weller models don't seem to build a good rep among experienced users lately.

That's sad. I've had my Weller analog soldering station for about a decade now and it's quite nice. Back in the early '90s I used dual Weller stations - through hole and SMD, as well as Metcal.

From a usability perspective of a production line worker, the Weller was much better. Those that could afford to mess with all the Metcal tips (Eng. techs and Engineers) they greatly liked them. But I found they didn't handle some tasks as well as a basic Weller soldering station.

Still a sad day when Weller drops the ball...
 
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