SMD soldering station

Surface mount technology (SMT) was developed in the 1980s to make possible the use of very small components that have no wire leads or pins. These components are now tenned surface mount devices (SMDs). For many years, these new components were thought to be too difficult to use outside large-scale electronics manufacturing plant. However, more and more people are now losing their reluctance to working with SMDs and these components are, therefore, becomtng more readily available from electronics retallers. This development brings with it a growing need for tools suitable for working with these tiny components. One of these is a temperature-controlled soldering outfit. The one described in this article is appreciable less expensive than commercially available models.