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Please note - we will not be available for Local Pick up orders from December 24th-December 27th. If you place an order for Local Pick-Up we will have those ready on Monday, December 30th.
Solder is a metal alloy with a low melting point that is melted onto 2 metallic items and allowed to re-harden. A tool called a soldering iron is used to provide heat to the process. Some solder contains lead, while some does not. Most solder also contains flux (not to be confused with the capacitor of the same name), which helps reduce oxidation and allowing the solder to flow more easily and other such technical stuff. Basically it's good. International, as well as some local laws, are beginning to prohibit the sale of consumer products with lead in them, so while you can still buy lead solder (even here at SparkFun) all our boards are made with lead-free solder (still a bad idea to ingest or insert under your skin). Here are the steps that we use to solder a component:
Your weapon - the soldering iron!
A blob of oxidized solder. No good!
How you want the tip to look!
And now a quick example video...
Sample Question:
What is the purpose of soldering?
a. Playing with fire
b. Connecting two pieces of metal both physically and electrically
c. Wiping your soldering iron on a wet sponge
d. Making your circuit heat proof
Officially the answer is 'b' but for some people it is 'a' as well, although if you are getting flames you might be doing something wrong.
Why should you tin the tip of your iron?