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Comment by pkolaczk | Hacker News Reader

Maybe it’s just me but I find SMT easier and faster to prototype with than THT. Apply paste, place all components on the board with tweezers, reflow, done. With THT I have to bend / cut the legs of most components, and solder each point individually.

As for “high lead solder” - you won’t buy it in Europe. We had to learn using lead free for rework and you know what - it’s not much different, assuming you have high quality equipment.

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As for “high lead solder” - you won’t buy it in Europe. We had to learn using lead free for rework and you know what - it’s not much different, assuming you have high quality equipment.

That's bollocks. You can buy leaded solder in Europe just fine. You only need to worry about lead-free if you want to sell a commercial product.

You can’t in Poland if you don’t own a resistered business. I tried and nope, they won’t sell it to individuals.

But thanks for letting me know, maybe it was just a local problem of the particular store, but a EU policy.

I have a roll of 38% lead solder on my desk which I bought last year from Leroy Merlin in Portugal, so you can definitely buy it in Europe.

Any idea where I can buy some from Germany? Reichelt stopped to sell it and I did not have chance to stock up

Nowadays I don't bother with Reichelt or Conrad and just get must of my stuff from Mouser. They offer leaded solder in all kinds of forms. I have to say that I have not tried out if they will actually deliver it to Germany though.

If you can do your joints on first try, lead free solder is exactly as "difficult" as leaded solder. I never notice the difference except when I have to remove it.

Yeah that's true if you have a reflow oven and avoid 0402 and below. Ovens aren't cheap or small though.

Can't you modify a toaster oven to make a usable reflow oven?

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