Maximum PC

Thermal wicking is what it does ( it may even be called that in some circles ) but it's also know as the good old heat sink. Most heat sinks are permanent fixtures as you know, but a pair or alligator clips, small vise grips, or my favourite, a pair of surgical clamps, all accomplish the same thing, they act like wicks, drawing the heat away from the component. I find that the surgical clamps are by far the best, they can clamp onto the smalest part and they're easy to use.

Battery clamps won't work?

This is a great thread all.

I will give it some attention friday in the MRL.

Manta

I personally prefer the Ideal T-strippers to any others I have ever used. Cheap shitty strippers, or even not-so-cheap (Klein) shitty strippers flat out piss me off. Of course for occasional hobby use, a cheap pair will get you by just fine, you can always upgrade if your hobby becomes more serious.
As far as soldering, the main thing I was taught was that solder moves toward the heat, so heat the area you want the solder and let it flow toward the heat. Also, if you are connecting a fine stranded wire to a terminal, you will definitely want to "tin" the wire first. All this means is to heat the twisted together end of the wire up and apply a light coat of solder. This will prevent individual strands of wire from sticking all over the place and makes for a nice neat connection.
For the most part, the best thing you can do is to get an iron and practice it yourself. I'm not really good at it, as I rarely solder, but I get by when I have to.
I found this short guide http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/arti ... ide_1.html

Whats That????

MRL=Modder's Resource List, a sticky thread in this folder, ironically full of tons of modder's resources. Check it out:

Modder's Resource List

Thermal wick(actually called solder wick) is not a heat sink for components its a way of removing the solder when you are removing a part. Of coarse there is always a solder sucker for that but, that is only for big amounts. As far as the tips and irons go the one you have is probaly what you need unless you are soldering something intricate like a surface mount chip or the like. the bigger tips and higher wattage irons are for bigger parts that need that kind of heat tranfer. as far as the wire thng i'm with chumly a y connection sucks all the way around and when you are doing the inline solder i have found it helpful to untwist the wire and push the two ends together then retwist them back together. good luck!!