Ask Lemmy

I only have limited advice, but maybe a few helpful tips.

Background: do lots of soldering, had a left radial nerve injury that left my arm frequently unusable for a couple of years.

• Get a soldering iron with some sort of base that allows you to properly insert your iron. You don't want one that you set the iron down on a stand. If you're anything like me, you'll one day have your attention yanked away from whatever you're inspecting because you smell your skin burning.
• Static-free silicone mats are your friend. They'll provide the friction for you to tilt and then grab pesky boards and shit.
• Get a very stable but easy to manipulate magnifying lamp with a large window. Numerous studies have seen almost unbelievable fine motor improvement when using a magnifying glass.
• Get various comfy tweezers/grippers. If they're comfy, you're less likely to slip. Different materials to interact with different things, so you don't accidentally scrape off contacts and shit.
• Storage and organization will be your salvation. Something that you can easily get components out from using the tweezers, and onto a silicone mat.
• I'm probably going to get some pushback on this, but get a magnetizer/demagnetizer. Magnetize all of your screwdrivers and shit by default. You can always demagnetize things later, but it's better than fighting one-handed with screws and such.
• Get a set of helping hands, but not the ones with a small area and small arms. Something like this where the arms are super-flexible but didn't require loosening and tightening, they have comically long reach, and they attach magnetically to a plate so that you can:

1. Take the arm off the plate
2. Use the clip to grab your part
3. Put the arm back on the plate
4. Position the arm
5. Clip the part with at least one more arm to secure it
6. Position your incoming component, maybe even secure it with another arm
7. Use one more arm to hold your solder

• It's not the best technique, but you gotta work with what you got: learn to solder to your iron to your part. (Rather than only heating the part and component and then applying solder) Your results won't be as pretty, but they'll be functional.
• Desoldering is going to be a pain. When I had my rough days, I'd hold a wick with another clip, get it to absorb the solder, and then VERY quickly LIFT it with either the soldering iron, or usually my pinky. They also have electric solder suckers, but I've never tried one.
• Finally, get a comfy chair that lets you move and lean without falling over.

Hopefully some of these tips are helpful! It's been about 20 years since I've had to solder one-handed. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.