A colleague suggested we get this for fine pitch SMD work. good call. This little baby is just what the doctor ordered. The first thing I did was solder a 36 AWG wire onto a 0.5mm pitch TQFP. That was completely impossible until we got this nifty little device. (Thank goodness for microscopes too) It's not cheap, but it's worth every penny. You can only use it in conjunction with one of Hakko's "high-end" soldering stations. There is a huge selection of tips for this. Hakko's website is packed with practical application information. FANTASTIC!