Soldering iron question

I'm getting a new soldering iron and it does not come with a tip, so I have to get one separate. Every soldering iron I've used has had pointed tips and I've heard that chisel tips are better. What I'm wondering is what size chisel is a good one for a general purpose applications. I can only afford one so what would be the best size for me to get? The options are from .08mm to 5.0mm wide chisels and from 0.5mm to 1.2mm thick respectively. I'm leaning towards a 1.6mm wide by .5mm thick chisel. I'll be soldering IC's and other standard through hole stuff not too much smd stuff. I have my older 60w iron for any big stuff like connector mounts.

I've got some bigger irons, but generally use a 15 watt iron from Radio Shack. It has a fine point tip that allows getting in close quarters without too much heat to affect other joints and components. The other advantage is that RS carries the replacement tips (kind of pricey, but much cheaper than mail order) when the tip gets worn and needs replacement.

I'm getting a Hakko FX951. Been saving for it for a bit now, was gonna get a FX888, but decided to make a long term investment as I will be doing a lot of soldering from here on out.

Nothing wrong with the FX888. No reason is won't last.

My advice with soldering iron is get a temperature-controlled one. Its false economy not to. They usually come with a range of tips so you can choose what works best for you...

Thanks for the advise, but to clarify, I know what kind of station I'm going to get, I was looking for advise for the size of tip.

lets face it all the cool stuff coming out is smd plan for the if i was buying equipment again plan for the future. I worked at a millitary contractor where they built electronic missile guidance systems, the things you can do with the right sized tips can do lots of things. look at these tips they use and techniques. Its just like they do in rework of smd parts by hand at that contractor I worked for some time ago

The essence of the first video is quite simple: Don't solder like that. Use FLUX. The tip shape is also sub-optimal. A medium sized chisel tip is probably the most universal one you can get.