First post, by digger
- Rank
- Oldbie
Hi everyone,
I already did a search for it here on Vogons, and I was thinking about bumping up other existing topics about beginner's anxiety and struggles with soldering in general, but decided this was a more specific topic deserving of its own thread.
Can any of you maybe recommend any good workshops for people who wish to gain more experience with soldering, tailored towards hobby electronics, including retro computer hardware tinkering? I'm looking for such events, workshops and courses in the Netherlands, preferably in the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam (MRA). However, I'm willing to travel a bit further within the country if's a high quality and fun workshop. It's also important for it to have a fun vibe and atmosphere, with friendly and knowledgeable people willing to help others hone their skills. 🙂
I was already considering joining a hackerspace or makerspace in or near Amsterdam, and any such spaces that offer such workshops regularly would also be good options to me.
A quick search on-line yielded this one by BeQwaam, but maybe some of you have other suggestions?
It could also be a repair café that where people would be assisted in their hardware repairs rather than having it done for them by experienced people.
Some background about my experience level: I studied computer electronics at a bachelor level for 2 years, but didn't finish it and switched to a software engineering major at another college instead.
I have done some soldering stuff more than once, but not regularly enough to be comfortable with it.
I even already bought a Pinecil from Pine64, including a power station for it, as well as a silicone soldering mat, with the intent to do some more tinkering. But I don't feel comfortable enough working on some retro hardware with my current level of experience and skill. I'd prefer to work on that more, but alone at home it's hard to get myself to take the hurdle.
So I was thinking that attending a workshop with others, and learning the intricacies of picking the right bits, setting the right temperature, how to hold the iron, applying flux, replacing caps, that's the sort of thing that I'd like to become more skilled and more comfortable with. I'm sure the positive peer pressure will help, as well as the ability to get immediate feedback, being able to ask questions, getting advice on purchasing the right equipment for my home work area, etc.
Anybody have any suggestions? I would really appreciate it. (Suggestions for other forums to post this question in are also welcome! I'll probably ask for this in the VCFED forum as well.)
Thanks! 😃
