What do you use the peg board for, Scot? Just for nice and tidy back? In that case I’ll probably opt for just fabric on the back 
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First purchases of the year, both capable of generating heat, and both replacements. The AH MkII replaces the Mk1 that I was convinced was overkill for my purposes (it lived on my Haken Continuum). After some many months without it, I have decided that even if overkill, it does the job like nothing else.
The Weller replaces my trusty old Radio Shack soldering station that I’d been using for over a decade. It finally gave up the ghost while I was working on two important repairs/recaps. It will be missed.
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Not all of them use peg board. Some use corrugated cardboard. Some just have fabric. Pegboard can act (not terribly well) as a low-pass filter.
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In summary: this is what I’m going for, minus the pegboard back, maybe plus the painting foil. Won’t fill this thread with more acoustics stuff, just one more thanks for all the quick tips - helped me steer back to just go and do it soon!
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Fiberglass is great, when it is properly drenched in vinylester resin.
I’m curious about the physics of these bass traps.
How are fill materials and protective coverings evaluated? It seems like burlap should be more reflective than rockwool, and leaving it bagged should be even more reflective.
I’d love to have big monitors in my next studio, but anything even resembling loose fiberglass in my studio is a 100% nope for me. I can always go down to the yard to work on my boat if I want to increase my odds of lung cancer.
Put a Robocop sticker on it and christen it “Peter”
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I’m a complete noob, but from what I’ve gathered from researching, the low frequencies that I’m trying to tackle with bass traps through dense materials are really a different issue then the higher frequencies that you manage with reflective surfaces.
Come find me in this thread to further the convo!
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Most of mine are not bass traps. I did build some, but they are no longer in use, as my current room seems okay in that area. My old bass traps were made to fit into corners and each was made specifically for the corner it was in. I can’t remember why I used what I used or built them the way I did… that was many, many years ago and there was a lot less information readily available. I adjusted the construction to fit the needs of their placement (for instance, one of them has a pegboard backing, and another has a partial pegboard backing with some bits cut out. Can’t remember why, but there was some reason that made sense to me at the time). That old room was custom build with proper non-parallel, floating non-resonating walls… the works. It was awesome, but ultimately over-indulgent and unnecessary.
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I got that exact Weller also replacing an ancient Radio Shack solder station. Man, I wish I’d done it years ago! Hope you enjoy the upgrade as much as I did.
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As the beneficiary of that earlier decision, I’m sorry that you came to regret it, but I’m glad that you’ll get to play with all the other great features now, with a nice large screen.
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I don’t regret the decision. The AH was overkill for my needs, but as it turns out, I like overkill. I am happy we both benefitted from my mistake.
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Recently I’ve been looking to upgrade to a proper digital solder station. I narrowed it down to this one or the Hakko around the same price. The Weller seems like the better option given the availability of tips wherever the brand is sold. They honestly all seem like a crapshoot quality wise in this price range until you start spending some serious coin.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this unit once you’ve had some runtime on it!
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I bought the Hakko 888 before starting my last big wave of DIY projects. That was after struggling with some absolutely shit Chinese brands. The corresponding Weller had been long in the tooth back then so I went with the newer Hakko. Couldn’t be happier.
I suspect that if you spend roughly the same money on Hakko or Weller you will be equally happy.
For tip longevity, discard the sponge and replace it with the springy brass coils.
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I’m using it at this very moment (re-capping an Oberheim DX) and quite pleased with it so far. It was the (future) availability of the tips that persuaded me to choose the Weller. The first thing I did was put a finer tip on it. It heats up fast.
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Can you mention which Weller it is exctly or post a link? Thanks!
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Weller WE1010NA. Not an expensive one… around a hundred bucks.
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Thanks man!
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I love that it’s “password protected”–a feature I always look for in my soldering irons!
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I was still using my 17 year old Weller WES51 until about six months ago. It stopped working, and I didn’t want to try to fix it. It had a good run. I ended up with the Hakko 951, which I absolutely love. I’d have been happy with a new Weller as well, but had never used a Hakko. Wanted to give it a try.
There were some REALLY fancy stations that I was looking at too (can’t remember the brand, but serious stuff…) I figured I do a LOT of soldering, so it would be a reasonable investment, but then I became just a touch more reasonable myself, and got the Hakko 
I figured it would be better to get a better scope before something like that. Still haven’t done that either though yet. My current one is just a tiny bit too pokey for measuring audio at the rates I want to see it update.
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For me nothing this year so I can make the no gear contest commitment.
I have tried quiet a few soldering irons(because of the work I do…) I have to say the best for me is the Pace line. https://paceworldwide.com They are not cheap, and not really for hobbyists but they are fantastic is you need to do fine pinch work(stuff smaller than 603, and packages using finer pitch than a SIOC or TSSOP). Been using them for about 20 now… won’t touch another iron anymore… lol
That not to say the Weller iron’s everyone is using are bad… I think they are great for what people use them for, and good value for money! But if you want to spend…
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