I've ordered all the necessary stuff to get the job done - now it's a case of getting brave after a bit of practise :)

where did you order your stuff?

you be ok take it slow and remember to clean the tip and tin it when you first get it. I hade the mistake of not doing that. If you got a wobly hand eat bannanas tyler says it works caus of the potasium.

Maplin and Divineo

P.S.: You seen that new HDDLoader?

nope is it any good?

Should be: Check it out at www.hdloader.com

oh sweeetttttttttttttttttttttt looks cool :) i got myslef a 10 gb hdd from an old pc i had.

Yep. Gonna order it when im not skint (i.e. after doing up that PS2)

You can get it now for £19.95 from www.divineo.co.uk

I've got all my stuff, and now for the practice... :D Muhahahaha

OK, I've got the hang of getting a good joint, and tinning the wire and soldering to the chip legs etc, but tinning the end of the iron is proving a struggle. The solder runs away from the hot end of the iron, so any tips for that?

hell yea i got some good advice

right it sounds like you have got to much solder on your iron dont use that much ok.

Ok then does your tip look a bit black ? if so turn on the soldering iron and file (can you sandpaper) the nib gently not to hard or ur snap the tip and then apply some solder wipe it off on the sponge and u will see a shinny surface on ur iron now your solder wont slip away and its tinned :)

Cheers Seany. I called in at the Maplin across the way in Bradford when I was at the Honda garage for the new car. I got some tip cleaner/Tinner and that cleaned it right up and tinned it. I am well happy with my progress and am feeling v. confident indeed. Maybe give it a go for real in a few weeks. Thanks for all your help so far... LUFCfan :D

dats alright yea that tip tinner is very useful im getting some next week. and some flux.

NO NO NO!!! Never file or sand the tips on your irons!!!! There is a nickel (and some other coating) on the tips. If you file or sand the coating off the tips will soon burn them selves up fast! To clean the tip all I do is jam a bunch of solder onto the tip while it’s hot and roll the large ball of solder around the tip by slowly rolling the iron back and forth. After 30 second to a minute of this, wipe off the tip on a damp sponge. Also tip cleaner does work good but it can be corrosive and wear out the tip faster.

sorry thats what my electronics teacher told me.