I very recently became paralyzed in my left (and dominant) arm, fingers and foot, which believe it or not, was not planned for.
The timing was pretty bad, as I’ve just purchased a couple of ESP3266-boards, a soldering kit and two pressure mats with the the end goal of making a basic bad sensor (one mat for my girlfriend and my side). (Here’s the guide I intend to follow: Make your own bed sensor)
The obvious issue is how one, as easily as possible, can accomplish this? Main issues right now are that I can’t hold the board, the wires or anything in my hand.
Any and all tips are greatly appreciated.
I second solder paste, and it can be used with a regular soldering iron in addition to with a hot air rework tool! Solder paste with very conservative use of a soldering iron is actually my favorite way to solder, mainly because (a) it gives you tons of flux on each joint, and (b) I have one fewer thing (the solder) that I need to hold steady.
With solder paste, the main thing is being careful with how much heat you apply and for how long. As I mentioned, solder paste contains a LOT of flux. That liquid/gel flux winds up with way more surface area in contact with the solder particles in the paste than the flux core of wire-type solder, so the heat distributes in it much quicker. And since so much flux is involved, I find that solder paste gives me better joints and even better coverage when tinning stranded wire than with wire solder!
Best wishes for your project! You got this!