Soldering stations - OKi-Metcal, Pace or something else?

On 12 Sep 2011 at 20:39, Tony Duell wrote: I'll admit that the Metcal and Hakko stations are really tempting, and I may yet get one. But parts for the Weller have been available (with some minor changes) for something like a half-century. My last replacement was the heater. Not bad for 30-odd years of use. But I had to remember to get a new screw-on retainer for it, as the newer heaters are a bit fatter. It took less than 10 minutes to put the new one on. Weller TCPs were the standard iron in Silicon Valley for many years. But perhaps their day has come and gone and it's time to look for a better one. On the other hand, I never cared for their desoldering station (2 irons, one for sucking the other for soldering). I used it with an external vacuum pump, although if you have plant air, you can use an aspirator to generate the required vacuum. The tip kept plugging up; you had to periodically remove the glass wool from the little glass cartridge and keeping the thing tinned was a real battle. But at the time, it was the best out there. --Chuck