using no magnification, and only cheap soldering tools.
You can and should be able to solder SMD with only an iron and tweezers. Not everything; not the smallest stuff, but you don't start there. My sweet spot is 0805 or 0603 size components and 1.27mm pitch SOIC parts, which I actually find easier to solder than through hole, because you never have to flip the board over.
My recommendations for most useful tools are a Pinecil, a few packs of cheap flush cutters from Amazon (even expensive ones get dull or break), a cheap pair of sharp tweezers [1], and a tube of flux [2]. You don't always need extra flux if using flux-core solder, but enough flux can turn even the crappiest solder joints into good ones.
Most of the rest of the skill comes from being able to brace your hands against things to get fine control, while being far enough away to not burn yourself.
Magnification unfortunately comes down to how good your eyes are. If you can see your fingerprints clearly at arm's length, your vision is already good enough. If not, no big deal, get a cheap microscope like this one first [3], or a loupe, or some strong reading glasses, or one of those headband visor things with lenses in them.
I've got nothing against personal projects that use THD.
However, unless you're making simple circuits, avoiding SMD means that you are effectively constraining yourself to about 20% of the ICs being produced today.
It's also simply a fact that producing a product using THD components is a massive headache. It takes far more manual effort, most contract manufacturers will charge a pound of flesh, and the components are significantly bigger.
If none of those resemble problems you have to deal with, then THD is likely going to be great fun for you.
No, I was being semi-facetious. I too have learned that a number of components are no longer being made THT. I have done a limited amount of SMT but it is not a lot of fun for me.
Instead, I have been testing the waters my SMT PCBs having them also assembled now when I order them. It kind of saddens me though.
I never said anything about there being "one weird trick", just that I love soldering and I do it quite often. It's therefore not at all surprising that I would invest in good tools, especially given that my eyesight has failed a lot faster than I am comfortable with in my late 40s.
As I wrote about it in my comment, I started to list some tools that I have come to appreciate. I didn't even mention my pick and place or my CNC. Does it upset you that I have these, too?
Quite simply, you don't need to buy anything to practice this skill, but a stereo microscope is strongly recommended to anyone doing this multiple times a week.
https://hackaday.io/project/197868-sub-surface-simon
using no magnification, and only cheap soldering tools.
You can and should be able to solder SMD with only an iron and tweezers. Not everything; not the smallest stuff, but you don't start there. My sweet spot is 0805 or 0603 size components and 1.27mm pitch SOIC parts, which I actually find easier to solder than through hole, because you never have to flip the board over.
My recommendations for most useful tools are a Pinecil, a few packs of cheap flush cutters from Amazon (even expensive ones get dull or break), a cheap pair of sharp tweezers [1], and a tube of flux [2]. You don't always need extra flux if using flux-core solder, but enough flux can turn even the crappiest solder joints into good ones.
Most of the rest of the skill comes from being able to brace your hands against things to get fine control, while being far enough away to not burn yourself.
Magnification unfortunately comes down to how good your eyes are. If you can see your fingerprints clearly at arm's length, your vision is already good enough. If not, no big deal, get a cheap microscope like this one first [3], or a loupe, or some strong reading glasses, or one of those headband visor things with lenses in them.
[1] https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/seeed-technology-...
[2] https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/chip-quik-inc/SMD...
[3] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QB79SN