dcbullet, get some soldering iron tip cleaner from Radio Shack, get the iron good and hot, and then rub it in the cleaner a bit. Then wipe it off with a damp (not wet) sponge to clean the oxide off. After that, while it's hot, touch a little solder to the tip to coat it, just so it's silver (this is called 'tinning' the tip). By doing that, the tip will conduct heat A LOT better than if it was just bare copper. Practice on wires at your workbench. Strip about 1/2" off the end of a couple of stranded copper wires, twist them together, and fire up your iron. Make sure the tip is "tinned" and then touch it to the wires. The more of the tip that touches, the better, meaning that touching the very point won't transfer much heat. Then...after a couple of seconds, try touching the solder to the wires themselves. If everything is right, the solder will melt and flow nicely into the wires. Ideally, you want the wires coated just till you can't quite see the strands in the wire.
It takes practice, but once you're good at it, you can impress yer buds!
One other minor point, people frequently damage electronics and other components by using a soldering iron that's too small. By using one that's small, you heatsoak the wires much longer than if you used a larger iron that heats the wire fast, and lets you get done with soldering quicker. I've soldered rather delicate wires and electronics using an old Weller 100/140 (dual temp) soldering gun I have, tho the Hakko variable temp iron I have is better for the small stuff
).
