Most of the discussion on this board seems to be related to hot air
    systems like http://www.zephyrtronics.com/home.html.

    The instructor at the local community college where I am taking
    assembly classes prefers a contact system like Metcal, which is what I
    am using in class.

I've used both at work for some stripping components from dumpster-diving
finds.  I think the hot-air system has significant advantages for rework
sorts of situations - it has a smaller chance of physically damaging the
components or boards.  The fancy metcal tips for heating all the pins on an
SMT part at once seem to be rather a pain to use.  On the other hand, I
can't imaging using a hot-air system for simple assembly with normal wire
solder.  I haven't done assembly with solder paste, so I can't comment
there. (Hmm.  I've never seen any solder paste around here, which would
seem to imply that our "pros" use the metcals for "adding" parts as well.)

BillW

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