American Beauty 3138-100 Pencil-Style Soldering Iron, 100 Watt, 13" Length, 3/8" Diamond Tip

does what I needed it to do

Our old one lasted about 30 years, so the value is there. It works well for heavy duty stained glass panels, and or smaller jobs. The only reason we needed to buy a new one was because the wood handle deteriorated. But.... it had many many hours of use in those 30 years.

My daughter and I bought this to use with stained glass and although it's pretty good quality, it's a little heavier than we thought it would be. It stays hot though, as advertised, but if you have it in your hands for a long period of time, your fingers get a little tired. I know this is more industrial than craft, but we wanted a really GOOD soldering iron, and all in all, am satisfied.

Heavy and big, not good for stained glass. perhaps for something else.