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A good tool I saw for cleaning the end of an iron ( solder wont stick unless its clean and shiny, just balls up and drops off ) was thing cool little box with rotating brass wire brushes; stick the tip of your iron in there and it cleans off all the crud/ carbon & then you can tin it up really well. Better than a damp sponge as that cools down the tip. I keep on meaning to make my own ( cost like $60 or something silly ) from a couple of dremel wheels and some random small 380 class motors I have, then mount it in an enclosure with a hole in the lid & switch + 9v batt.