DIY Electronics - Kit Recommendations

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For those who dabble or are a whizz & PCB populating, what kit would you recommend for:

• Soldering Iron (wired)
• PCB Jig
• Helping Hand Station
• Anything else (tools, consumables or components)

I already have a butane iron & a cheap wired one.

I need a wired one more suitable for PCB work (on/off/temp control) & finer bit.

Also, any old solder/flux or something specific?

I already have a mat.

Budget is flexible for the right bit of kit.

TIA.

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Through hole mainly.

These are the boards I'm intending to order:



What would be the best way to insulate (blank off) the unused area (mainly perimeter)? Is there some sort of (specific) plastic sheet or film that can be cut to size?

I already have some self-adhesive plastic mounting posts, so that's sorted.

Metcal are expensive

As for the ESD mat, I'm not actually using any ICs or the like, mainly just switches & terminals at the moment.

This will be for occasional use, although it tends to be in batches with a flurry of activity over a week, then nothing for months.

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Thanks for the replies.

I bought some cheap stuff from Amazon to test drive.

The iron is a 60W with temp control & on/off switch. Already better that the Weller one I have (but that's a real basic model).

The helping hands thing is brilliant also, esp given that I can no longer keep either hand still for fine work (but ok if I use both).

The wire ball cleaner is also great.

Really interesting reading the tips for PCB design - I hadn't even considered that.