Unit 0: The Workshop¶

Set up one bench the whole family shares, and agree on the rules before anyone heats an iron.

The rules (print these and post them at the bench)¶

The iron lives in its stand. It's in your hand or in the stand, never on the bench.
Safety glasses on whenever anyone is soldering or clipping leads. Clipped leads fly at eyes.
Hold the handle, never the metal. Assume every tip, joint and part is hot.
Fan on while soldering. Flux smoke goes away from faces.
Wash hands after soldering and before eating. No food or drinks at the bench.
Power off before touching a circuit. Batteries go in last and come out first.
Say "hot!" when passing anything that's been near the iron.
The parent handles: bare lithium cells, etchant chemicals, mains power, and anything with a blade.

Burn first aid: cool running water for 10 or more minutes. No ice, no butter. Anything bigger than a small spot gets checked by a grown-up.

Bench layout¶

Back of the bench: fume fan (pulling smoke away from faces), lamp or magnifier, power supply.
Middle: a silicone mat as the work area, with helping hands.
The kid's dominant-hand side: the iron in its stand, plus the brass tip cleaner. The cord never crosses the work.
The other side: parts tray, multimeter, cutters and pliers.

Tool list¶

Must have¶

Item	Notes	~USD
Temperature-controlled iron, ×2	A Pinecil (USB-C) or Hakko FX-888D. Two irons so both kids can work at once.	30–110 each
Brass wool tip cleaner	Better than a wet sponge	8
Solder, 0.6–0.8 mm, rosin core	Lead-free (SAC305 or Sn99.3/Cu0.7) at the kids' station. See the note below.	15
Flux pen (no-clean)		8
Solder wick and a solder sucker	For fixing mistakes, which is a skill in itself	10
Safety glasses, one pair per person	Kid sizes exist	15
Fume extractor fan with carbon filter	Or a small fan pulling smoke away	25–40
Silicone soldering mat	Heat-proof, with part trays	15
Helping hands or a PCB holder		15
Flush cutters, needle-nose pliers, wire strippers	Kid-sized handles help the 8 y.o.	30
Multimeter, one per kid	Basic models are cheap. Owning one makes them explorers.	15–25 each
Breadboards and jumper wires	For trying circuits before soldering	15
Assorted resistor, capacitor and LED kits		30

Nice to have, and needed by the later units¶

Item	Unit
Bench power supply with current limit	We build one in Unit 7
Oscilloscope	We build one in Unit 8. A 2-channel 50–100 MHz scope (Rigol/Siglent) helps the parent from Unit 4 on.
Hot glue gun, heat-shrink tubing, heat gun	3+
Cordless drill and a small drill press (or a Dremel with a press stand)	6, 7, 11
Laser printer (toner) and a clothes iron or laminator	6
Hot air rework station	11 (SMD)
3D printer (optional)	7, 8, 10, 11, 14
tinySA spectrum analyzer	13, 15
NanoVNA	13, 15

Lead or lead-free?¶

Leaded solder (63/37) flows more easily and is more forgiving for beginners.
Lead-free needs about 30–40 °C more heat and makes duller joints.

Lead exposure from hobby soldering comes mostly from hands to mouth, not from the fumes. Either choice works with strict handwashing. We use lead-free at the kids' station anyway, so that mistakes around hygiene cost nothing.

Tip temperatures:

Solder	Tip temperature
Leaded	about 330 °C
Lead-free	about 360–370 °C

Roles by age¶

8 y.o.:
Solders with a parent right beside them for the first few sessions, with a hand on the board rather than on the iron.
Owns the part-sorting, testing with the multimeter and "quality inspector" jobs.
11 y.o.:
Has soldered before. Works independently on through-hole after one supervised check-off (see the skill ladder).
Mentors the 8 y.o. Teaching is how you really learn it.

Checklist¶

[ ] Bench cleared, mat down, fan and lamp placed
[ ] Rules printed and posted
[ ] Everyone read the Soldering Is Easy comic
[ ] Iron check: everyone shows iron to stand, tip cleaning, and holding the handle
[ ] Each kid's multimeter labeled with their name