Tools / Essentials

Starting out on your electronics adventure? Want to wield the mighty soldering iron? Tired of saying "I'd totally get into electronics if I only knew what tools to get..."? Working with substandard equipment is a terrible way to learn electronics: a lot of frustration with too little success. The right tool set will keep you progressing without the stressing. This...

The first time you soldered up a surface mount component you may have been surprised "these are really small parts!" and there's dozens of different names too! QFN, TDFN, SOIC, SOP, J-Lead, what do they mean and how can you tell how big they are? Now you can have a reference board at your fingertips, with this snazzy PCB reference ruler. Measuring approx 1" x 6",...

Heat shrink is the duct tape of electronics which we guess makes this heat shrink the colorful and exciting duct tape they sell at craft stores. This pack contains heat shrink tubes in five different colors - red, blue, aqua, yellow, and the classic Adafruit black. Each pack contains a wide variety of ~45mm pieces in the following sizes: 12mm, 9mm, 7mm, 6mm, 5mm,...

Totaling 380 pieces, this M2.5 Screw Set is a must-have for your workstation. You'll have enough screws, nuts, and hex standoffs to fuel your maker tendencies for days on end! M2.5 size screws fit almost all of the Adafruit breakout/dev board mounting holes (2.5mm or 0.1" drill holes). Works great with many Feathers, Adafruit breakout boards, Pi HATs and plates, and...

This fancy and ultra-adjustable PCB holder was recommended to us by Collin, who is not only a maestro at soldering but also has impeccable taste in furnishings, so we just had to get these in stock. Not surprisingly, we agreed with Collin that this is a really great PCB holder. Got a big ol' clunky circuit board that needs rework but is too big for your standard...

Totaling 420 pieces, this White Nylon M2.5 Screw Set is a must-have smörgåsbord for your workstation. You'll have more than enough screws, nuts, and hex standoffs to construct your maker projects for days on end! M2.5 screws fit nearly all of the Adafruit breakout/development board mounting holes (2.5mm or 0.1" drill holes). These screws work handsomely...

This silicone mat is made of thick rubber and can take just about anything you throw at it. It's stable, strong, non-slip, non-conductive and heat-resistant surface for your workstation. We love it here at Adafruit because you can hot air boards right on top and there won't be any damage to our underlying worktable. The mat is 4mm thick around the edges and 2mm thick...

Are you still looking for that perfect PCB holder? The low profile PCB Stickvise might be just the thing you need! In performing the simple task of holding a PCB near table level, the Stickvise is great because your hands can rest directly on the table, allowing you to steady yourself with minimal effort for fine soldering and probing. The Stickvise also fits easily...

Totaling 420 pieces, this M3 Screw Set is a must-have for your workstation. You'll have enough screws, nuts, and hex standoffs to fuel your maker tendencies for days on end! M3 size screws fit a number of Adafruit breakout/dev board standoffs. Since they are nylon you can file them down easily, and they don't conduct electricity or interfere with...

This mini rework station is great for electronic work and repair. These were initially marketed for people doing cell phone repair and rework, and we've found this to be an excellent workspace for SMT work in particular (this holder is way nicer for thru-hole since you can flip the PCB around) The metal plate weighs just about 600 grams (about 1.3lbs!) and, along...

They're yellow, they're square, they live in a pineapple under the sea... okay maybe not that last part, but this pack of three (3!) solder station sponges will come in handy around your workstation or wherever you do your soldering! Think of it as a sponge replacement pack, as it does not include a tray, holder, or other soldering equipment.

Be the architect of your perfect project! iFixit took the writability and magnetic security of their Magnetic Project Mat, mixed it with the sortability of the Anti-Static Project Tray, kept the ESD-safe properties of both, and added stackability—resulting in our next generation of premium project mat. The FixMat features two ways to keep track of screws and...

Are you still looking for that perfect PCB holder? The hefty yet portable Heavy Stainless Steel PCB Holder will rock out when you rework out. These were initially marketed for people doing cell phone repair and rework and we've found this to be an excellent vise for SMT work in particular (this holder is way nicer for thru-hole since you can flip the PCB around) Can...

The FixHub Smart Soldering Iron is the portable soldering solution for your precision soldering work. With USB-C power, this 100W iron heats up in under 5 seconds, giving you full-size soldering performance in a compact, easy-to-handle design. It's ready when you are. Please note: this iron requires a separate, not-included, USB Type C wall adapter with 100W output...

Here is a sleek and self-healing hobby mat designed for LEGO® and other brick-builders of all experience levels. The material is very similar to hobby/sewing/cutting mats. The grid design includes helpful layout grids and two radius angle guides. In the upper left corner you get a neat little reference legend for "brick math" along with the height of a LEGO...

This compact but 80 Watt-powerful stationary soldering iron is a great entry-level soldering station with all the fixins. It's not much more expensive than the chunky 'all-in-one" irons, but comes with a separate power supply and pen. Heats up fast and solders both lead and lead-free solder like a champ! The powering station is equipped with a temperature control...

Known by engineers for making excellent quality tools & soldering irons! This is a genuine Hakko FX-888D with digital temperature control! We worked hard to get the best and a great price, these are not knock-offs. This iron is an upgrade to the venerable Hakko 936 - smaller footprint but more powerful for a faster heat up time. The Hakkos have quality...

The Panavise Multi-Purpose Work Center is a versatile combination designed for holding larger, heavier objects. Very stable. An exceptional choice for any workbench! Self-centering, extra-wide opening jaws open a full 9" (228.6mm) and hold heavier objects by centering weight over base. Parts Tray Base Mount adds stability [8.5" (215.9mm) diameter] and has six...

It's like Circuit Playground for your wallet! Designed by Star Simpson, MIT Engineer! This handy, credit-card sized PCB is the perfect accessory for the amateur electrical engineer. On one side it has a beautiful eight-color silk screened resistor chart to help you identify resistors by their color (and finally beat Mho's Resistance) and on the other there's a...

The Computer Repair Screw and Standoff Kit contains all those bits and pieces that get lost whenever installing stuff into your computer or electronics devices: the screws, standoffs, washers and more that are used for the chassis, fan, motherboard and component extras. They may also be used by other electronic devices around your home. Particularly useful if you are...

This fully-assembled calculator will ace your college entrance exams for you! OK, kidding aside, NumWorks Graphing Calculator is the first moddable calculator with a Python interpreter built in! That's right, that friendly snake can now do your math homework with you. This truly modern tool encourages curiosity in programming and engineering, and makes learning math...

Discontinued - you can grab Canary Stainless Steel Non-Stick Cardboard Box Cutter instead! Cut through cardboard like a boss with the Slice Auto-Retractable Pen Cutter, a safer cutter with a ceramic blade. This handheld tool is way better than using scissors or a box cutter, and it's a lot harder to cut yourself by accident than metal blades (please don't try to cut...

This compact but 50W-powerful stationary soldering iron is a great entry-level soldering station, and we've been using it around Adafruit for soldering with a lot of success. It's not much more expensive than the chunky 'all in one" irons, but comes with a separate power supply and pen. Heats up fast and solders both lead and lead-free solder like a champ! The...

This here is iFixit's most economical do-everything toolkit. The Essential Electronics Toolkit is what you need for the most essential electronics repairs, as well as everything you need for most household DIY fixes. Get started in electronics repair with all the bits and precision tools to handle your most urgent screen breaks and battery swaps. Upgrade your home...