The last part of my order has arrived Part 1 - the Stand (arrived Tuesday) Cost £10.62 from Amazon Standard fare - Ceramic / Phenolic holder surround, with a sponge tray and capacity to hold 8 additional T12 tips in the rear. Appears well constructed, but more importantly very stable, I've had the soldering iron in the holder and the cable hanging over the edge of the desk and no hint of it trying to fall back (i've even pulled down on the cable and it still slams down onto the desk when released. Part 2 - the KSGER T12 soldering Iron Station (arrived Friday) Cost £38.70 from Amazon This is an impressive unit (I will post a link to a Youtube video below) Description: Model: T12 (without power supply) Power supply range: DC12V-24V 3A Power: 72W (MAX) Temperature control range: 150 C - 480 C With the function: automatic sleep, automatic shutdown, one button strong temperature Advantages: fast heating, DC power supply, small size, easy to carry Input voltage: 110-240V Output voltage: 24V Heating time: 8s Whats not included is a power lead (Standard kettle lead), T12 tip or instructions Now delivery of this was scheduled between 15th June and 22nd July, so yippee it's arrived early, damn I still can't play untill I get the bits Part 3 - 10 T12 assorted tips arrived Saturday £20.26 from Amazon The primary bits I will be using for modelling work will be the D24 - 2.4mm wide chisel bit D4 - 4mm wide chisel bit C4 - a 4mm diameter chisel tip These tips all have a slightly larger body so should be able to cope better with the initial sucking of heat from the the initial contact of the iron to the brass. Wider bodied tips are also available and I will look at these later. Ruud Boer has written a review and an instruction manual And a Youtube review by Defpom There are various accessories alternative handles, the one supplied with mine has a screw collar retainer for the tips, the one in the video is plastic quick release handle, and the optional accessory of the alluminium handle, I have ordered seperately an alternative quick release handle from Bangood, I have a cat that loves to chew soldering Iron cables Very impressed with the iron so far, will try work on a brss kit this evening Paul
Small update. You need to select the correct Tip profile, so I have been using the C4 tip, when at the default JL02 tip, the power level didn't go above 15%, selecting the C4 tip it now jumps up to 24 - 30 % as I bring it in to contact with the brass etch. Set at 300 degrees, the 145 degree solder just flows nicely. 180 degree solder requires the iron to be held in contact for a bit longer. Paul