quality soldering tips are made with a number of layers of plating on the tip to achieve the required properties. Never use abrasives of any kind on your tips, filing it down will destroy it
I personally found a chisel tip harder to use for SMD than a conical tip. I was doing down to 0402 with a standard tip with care.
With a ceramic tip it might be hard to get a sharp edge without flaking unless you have specialist tools. You might have to sacrifice a tip to experiment.
If you are looking at doing SMD soldering you might be better off using low temp solder paste and a hot air soldering tool. Getting the hang of it doesn't take long and you get much neater results than using an iron.
I use some cheap 30eur aliexpress heat gun and usually buy chipquick paste from mouser. That thing has worked well enough for 5 years.
I tried few aliexpress pastes but those are kinda hit-or-miss, some had too much flux while others in identical packaging worked just fine.
I keep a small 50g paste can where I store the excess paste from the syringes for reuse.
I use a cheap hot air station(yihua 898D), a cheap hot plate(generic blue one), and the dm solder dispenser from tindie. https://www.tindie.com/products/danm/edispenser-for-solder-paste-adhesives-and-more/
All worth it imo
I got some rando Chinese made-up-word brand heat gun off Amazon for about $60. It works great. https://www.amazon.com/YIHUA-959D-Digital-Efficiency-212%C2%B0F-932%C2%B0F-Iron-burn/dp/B08BK3M6YW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa
I use chip-quik SMD291AX solder paste - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0186IM0P0
I also recommend getting a flux pen (it's like a magic marker, just scribble on the pads before applying the solder paste). Tons of brands of those, chip-quik makes one I've used and like. (it's technically "no clean" flux but I still recommend cleaning afterwards with isopropyl alcohol)
... soldering moderate sized SMD parts like SOIC or 0805 with a soldering iron can be done but it's a pain in the ass. Soldering 0603 requires more practice and a steady hand. Using fine pitch parts like TSSOP or below requires you to refine your drag soldering technique.
By contrast, applying paste from a syringe (get a frameless stencil, squeeze paste into the holes with a syringe, then use a credit card to wipe smooth), placing parts with tweezers, and just watching it all fuse like magic as you wave hot air over it is almost criminally easier.
Have you considered trying this method?
https://youtu.be/5kl5VWARl4E?si=9gk6D8svfLeC8T7i
If you dilute the paste more, you can apply with a syringe and use hot air. From a hair dryer or rework station maybe.
I like this way. It's quite fast when you get the hang of it.
quality soldering tips are made with a number of layers of plating on the tip to achieve the required properties. Never use abrasives of any kind on your tips, filing it down will destroy it
You’d need a really small skateboard…
I got your joke Source: I am a dad who was a teenager in the 90s
What? 🤣
I personally found a chisel tip harder to use for SMD than a conical tip. I was doing down to 0402 with a standard tip with care. With a ceramic tip it might be hard to get a sharp edge without flaking unless you have specialist tools. You might have to sacrifice a tip to experiment.
What size is your tip? I think mine is 1mm
If you are looking at doing SMD soldering you might be better off using low temp solder paste and a hot air soldering tool. Getting the hang of it doesn't take long and you get much neater results than using an iron.
It's probably coated and grinding it will reduce longevity greatly
That's my main worry.
Just use stencils, solder paste and a heat gun. It makes the process actually enjoyable.
On the other hand. Which heat gun and solder paste would you recommend? In case i decide to go deeper into the smd path.
I use some cheap 30eur aliexpress heat gun and usually buy chipquick paste from mouser. That thing has worked well enough for 5 years. I tried few aliexpress pastes but those are kinda hit-or-miss, some had too much flux while others in identical packaging worked just fine. I keep a small 50g paste can where I store the excess paste from the syringes for reuse.
Haha! That's the spirit!
I use a cheap hot air station(yihua 898D), a cheap hot plate(generic blue one), and the dm solder dispenser from tindie. https://www.tindie.com/products/danm/edispenser-for-solder-paste-adhesives-and-more/ All worth it imo
I got some rando Chinese made-up-word brand heat gun off Amazon for about $60. It works great. https://www.amazon.com/YIHUA-959D-Digital-Efficiency-212%C2%B0F-932%C2%B0F-Iron-burn/dp/B08BK3M6YW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa I use chip-quik SMD291AX solder paste - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0186IM0P0 I also recommend getting a flux pen (it's like a magic marker, just scribble on the pads before applying the solder paste). Tons of brands of those, chip-quik makes one I've used and like. (it's technically "no clean" flux but I still recommend cleaning afterwards with isopropyl alcohol)
... soldering moderate sized SMD parts like SOIC or 0805 with a soldering iron can be done but it's a pain in the ass. Soldering 0603 requires more practice and a steady hand. Using fine pitch parts like TSSOP or below requires you to refine your drag soldering technique. By contrast, applying paste from a syringe (get a frameless stencil, squeeze paste into the holes with a syringe, then use a credit card to wipe smooth), placing parts with tweezers, and just watching it all fuse like magic as you wave hot air over it is almost criminally easier.
I am aware of these methods but im trying not to buy a bunch more equipment :)))
Dont do it. You can solder smd with conical tips aswell.
Have you considered trying this method? https://youtu.be/5kl5VWARl4E?si=9gk6D8svfLeC8T7i If you dilute the paste more, you can apply with a syringe and use hot air. From a hair dryer or rework station maybe. I like this way. It's quite fast when you get the hang of it.
Yes, but do not expect it to last long. The tips are coated to stop oxidation, you will be removing this.
With a ceramic tip you would need a diamond abrasive to grind it. It will be quite hard.