I am tired of buying cheap soldering guns! Any recommendations on a good soldering gun? Im thinking of getting a Craftsman but am curious as to what yall have.

 

I have a Weller that has been good for the last 10 or so years.

 

Weller have served me for 40 years.

 

The Weller from my father goes back to the 50s.

 

Have an old Craftsman dual heat soldering gun that I think is about 35+ years old.

The body looks like something from a 1950's sci-fi movie.

 

Ditto the above. My Weller is 30+ yrs old. The replacement tip that came with it is still new in the case. Mines a dual heat w/ a light. Don't use it every day, but it's been used and abused a lot over the years, and still works like new.

Seems all the replies so far are on the older units. Can only hope the current offerings from Weller are just as good.

 

I have two of the Craftsman #0927320 heavy duty soldering gun kit and they work great, I can't remember who makes it but I can check if I need to. My dad has one on the farm for at least 40 years and it work just as good as my newer one, plus you can get parts for it if needed.

 

I've got a weller here, havent used it in awhile but I know when I do need it it WILL work, and do what I need. its around 25-35 years old, and still good as new.

 

when I need it, the 40 year old Weller still works great
sometimes the tip nuts need to be tightened as they seem to loosen from the heat cycle, but I only use it every now and then
yea, and I have a new in the package tip that I bought, a spare when I bought the gun and haven't needed it yet

 

Sounds to me like Weller may be a good brand, they are most likely the ones that built for Sears too. Greg

 

A Weller soldering gun is good for heavy soldering work. If you are soldering on circuit boards, you will want a pencil type of soldering iron, in the 25W-40W range.

 

I have a butane powered pencil soldering iron, works great anywhere.

 

I think the butane pencil tip ones are a must have. Outlets are not always available. Just stay far away from that cooltouch peice of crap you see on tv.

 

Ditto, Just stay far away from that cooltouch peice of crap you see on tv!!!!

 

I have a weller in the case that was my Grandfathers from back in the 40's I think. Still works great and looks "kinda" new. However I have a soldering "pencil" iron that I use more then anything that I got at Radio Shack for like $5 bucks 25 years ago and still works everytime I need it.