Is soldering similar to riding a bike, once you know the trade you "never forget" ?
Or do You need a regular dose to keep it a smooth procedure ?
Would yogurt work as flux ?
I think soldering requires constant practise. Riding a bike is something which you don't really have to 'focus' on balancing the bike. But not in the case of soldering. You have to make the solders flawless.
I find it like riding a bicycle. All it takes is some practice, and if you've been out of practice for a while, it's a skill that comes back pretty quickly. (and it's not that difficult in the first place, once you get the hang of it.) (and I've probably had gaps in my soldering whose length has exceeded many readers total soldering experience. Being mostly a SW sort of guy...)
Well general purpose through-hole soldering is fairly easy to pick up. Now SMD soldering is something that is a wee bit more challenging. Luckily a large part of my job requires soldering components on motherboards so I get paid to work on my skills
I take 'roids to enhance my soldering performance. Now every idiot that wants to look trendy wears a stupid rubber wristband that says "Rosin Strong".
I for one picked up soldering and Arduino so as to look useful to our (coming, and not a moment too soon) Robot Overlords. Riding a bike only impresses Al Gore. The robots will give me wealth and dominion over thousands.
However, this new ROHS Lead-free solder might be better than the 60/40 we used back in the day- it must have been imported from China. No matter how much of the old stuff you ate, you were still hungry again in an hour. (twitch) (twitch)
Or, combine the two. "Flux Armstrong" - Now I really am showing my age
Crap... if Flex Armstrong is showing your age I'd hate to know how old you think I am (actually, Flex Armstrong was popular during my childhood, but I don't know how LONG he was popular for....)
It does take practice... but not a lot. Just learn to respect and understand the solder and the process. You can be making nice clean shiny joints without too much time spent. (assuming you are trying)
I may not solder something for over a month or two but then build 3 or four boards and all are fine... (and nice looking).
But... I will admit I do have had a lot of years... in 1978 I ran a wave solder machine doing ~150 1' by 2' boards per day. It included trimming the leads as well and after job that I went on to assemble small run boards for the A/V sales group... so for a short while, it was more than a hobby.
@sptrks: I do not agree with the SMD considered harder idea. I believed this for years and sticked to TTH for a long time. However by now I know that SMD is actually much easier to solder. The hardest part is placing the tiny parts. Soldering them is definitely much easier. However it is a good idea to stick to leaded solder.