This tip was recommended to me by a friend who solders a lot. I've done very little myself, but I have a decent project that required soldering a lot of surface mount items. In the past I have not soldered anything other than through hole elements. With this soldering tip I was able to solder all surface mount components with relative ease! This soldering tip is the best I've ever used! I really can't think of a better general purpose soldering tip! I used this tip in my Hakko FX-888D and it fits perfectly!