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Comment by ch4ch4 | Hacker News Reader

This kit is targeted for younger kids. A soldering iron presents a real risk for injury, and most parents will probably not want to buy something like that for their kids.

If parents wanted to extend this kit to include soldering, they could just as easily buy an additional Pi HAT kit from Adafruit...

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Playing tag presents a real risk for injury. Climbing a tree presents a real risk for injury.

Any kid that is old enough to understand the concept of programming a computer and being interested enough to pursue it is old enough to solder. Don't grab the iron by the business end. Wear your safety glasses. Don't inhale the smoke. It's that easy.

I think there is an age where it is reasonable to allow children to climb trees, play tag, and where they might be interested in building a computer, but would not be mature enough to trust with a soldering iron. That easy or not.

We're not talking about a chainsaw, a lathe, or a tool that requires a certain amount of strength or non-intuitive understanding. Safe usage of a soldering iron is safety glasses, not breathing the (fairly irritating) smoke, and not touching the hot end. It is about as dangerous as a screwdriver or a hammer.

Although, like those other tools, having someone skilled show you the ropes is a great benefit. There are lots of ways to solder incorrectly without burning yourself.

I think I was about 10 when my grandfather taught me to solder. I think the safety level really depends on the kid, and a little early-on guidance.

Yeah, maybe the headers could be pre-soldered, or just present as receptacles for pluggable cable ribbons that you also provide.

I think the important part would be breaking the hardware out of just being 'A Computer Box.'

Oh come on, soldering is fairly safe - the worst thing you can realistically get is a small burn. Compare that to say, cycling or skying (which is something many parents let their 10 year olds do).

> the worst thing you can realistically get is a small burn.

Never had your soldering iron roll off the bench and then tried to catch it, hmm? Inevitably, you catch the wrong end...

/but you only do so once... //wearing shorts during the episode can make it double the fun!

Dunno about you, but I stopped wearing shorts while soldering after the first time a large-ish ball sputtered off onto my knee.

It can make cool-looking stains on pants, but it's hard to get off cleanly without tearing the fabric.

Or set something on fire. Or melt something (like the cord going to the iron). It's certainly one of those things that needs a little supervision, at least for a little while.

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