From Beginner to Pro: Tips for Perfect Soldering with Solder Bar

Are you new to soldering? So you might actually want a good solder connection but for whatever reason its not happening. Don’t worry at all! Solder Bars from Hong Sheng on the other hand with a little practice and some no-brainer tips could teach you how to do well at soldering. But remember you have to start somewhere, soldering is a useful skill and can be fun! 

Soldering is Simple! 

Soldering can be intimidating but it's not as hard as it looks. The very first step is to set up your toolkit. But you would need a soldering iron and solder wire along with, Hong Sheng Solder Bars and Solder Tools. So it is important that you use top quality solder bars to get the best results.  And suddenly, soldering, with the proper tools in place starts to be a whole lot more pleasurable than ever before! 

With all our tools in place, let's start to solder. Note also, you heat the metal piece not the solder. If you heat the solder but not the metal then it won't properly bond and creating a weak connection that is very likely to break. High focus is required to heat the metal Always focus on heating the metal first! 

Keep Your Tools Clean

You should also make sure that you keep your soldering iron clean. If you find your solder is not sticking as well, chances are that the iron was dirty. Use a damp sponge or cleaning pad like this one to clean your soldering iron in order to keep it nice and neat. Keeping it clean and properly New cleaning will help your soldering iron running in peak condition giving you the best results for quite some time. 

Steps to Solder Like a Pro

But if get real good better at soldering, you really need to follow here are hints 

Make sure your workspace is sturdy and secure. If the project will wiggle around during soldering, it is not going to end up nice at all. 

Use a helping hand tool. A third hand is a tool that keeps your project steady for you while you work. It really helps because then you are able to hold small parts which are almost impossible to manage with fingers while carrying out the solder like solder paste.  

Guide on soldering step by step

Now that you have your tools and tips in place, let’s break down the step-by-step process of how to solder. 

Clean your metal. Clean the metal you are going to solder with a wire brush or some sandpaper to remove any dirt, dust, or grime. It assists on that the solder will stick better. 

Apply flux. Flux: Flux is a special material that helps the solder to grip onto on the metal. To the area which you are going to solder on, add a little flux

Heat the metal. With the metal nice and hot, apply solder to it just as you would apply a hot glue with a glue gun. Don't leave it too long, or you could ruin the metal. 

Apply the solder. Touch the heated metal, and allow it to melt by touching the end of your solder wire. Drag the solder wire across the soldering area until it covers all of it in a nice, molten coat. 

Let it cool. After you have it, wait a few seconds to cool down before touching or moving the project. This is crucial to help in ensuring a good connection. 

Good results with solder bars

For soldering work, the solder bars are an excellent choice. How to make them work for you We hope this guide helps! 

Choose the right size. Solder bars have several sizes, so choose the right size for your project. This is can be much harder to solder with the wrong size. 

Use enough flux. Flux causes the solder to adhere more readily to the metal, so, in short, a good deal of flux equals better results. 

Don’t overheat the solder. Heat the solder too much and it may eventually become brittle, making a fragile key one day. 

How to Improve at Soldering

This beginners guide to soldering and using Hong Sheng's Solder Bars was helpful, but with these additional tips you will be even better at the art of soldering. 

Practice! You will get better the more you do this stuff! It will be discouraging initially; but you have to persevere! 

Learn from others. Be it by watching videos online or from someone who has experience in soldering the problems. Being able to learn from other people can massively improve your skills.