If you search on Amazon 60/40 you can find it
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I agree Andy. A good quality solder makes a huge difference, whether it’s leaded or lead free. I bought a cheap reel of solder via ebay one time as I was a bit short on pennies - I can usually solder almost anything with anything, but that stuff was awful. I still have the reel of cheap solder, as I went on to buy a reel of multicore. I’ve also tried solder from Scientific Wire in Essex and it’s pretty decent to say it’s unbranded and was cheaper than other solders. For lead free at work we used to use solder branded Nihon Almit and it was nice to use as far as lead free goes.
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I’ve used Weller TCP at work since the early 80s and at home since the 90s. I have the Weller PS-3D supply, WTCP pencil and the spring+sponge stand. About £240 new today. The pencil and stand were bought new in 91/92. The PSU came out of the skip at work marked faulty. It worked when I tested it. Over the years it was faulty, sometimes the iron would not heat. Unplug and replug the pencil lead and it worked. I fixed it after 33 years this Christmas, the pins in the 3pin Bulgin connector needed splaying slightly. 30 second fix to a 30+ year intermittent issue.
The element failed after 27 years… outrageous unreliability! I’ve been through many bits and sponges. When I found the elements had changed slightly and I needed a new barrel as well as an element, I stocked up on genuine bits, a few PTAA-7 and a PTAA-8
Most work is done with PTAA-7 but I found someone having a clearout sale and picked up a PTL-7, a PTO-7 and a PTR-7 for a fraction of the list price.
I’ve used Metcal irons with instant heating and adjustable temperature. I didn’t like them but mainly because of getting on for 30years Weller TCP muscle memory. I need to buy a hot air iron for assorted SMD work.
Good tools cost good money. But apart from consumable items, you only tend to buy good tools once because they last.
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I purchased solder from Spectrum Communication on eBay good quantity for the price and worked for a QMX build.
73
Graeme
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I’ve built two QMXs without too much drama.
As others have said, an iron tip with a bit of thermal mass is needed for some pads. I just used a Hakko clone with a small chisel tip. Both units were built for 9V, not sure if this is a factor, but so far no blown finals.
They are powered by either 3 x LiFEPo4 cells (a smidge over 9V full charge) or 2 x LiPo cells with an Ebay step up converter to 9V.
The toroids and diodes around them can be tight to fit, pay attention to diode lead orientation.
Take time on the build and spend a while looking for shorts and dags on the boards. Not sure if these have been addressed on newer builds, but a tab on the LCD display can touch the board below. The DC jack can also touch an adjacent part. Use a current limited supply for testing. Watch those wandering scope ground clips when its powered up.
Glenn VK3YY
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73 Chris
I was going to get a Paul Weller iron until that. Not now though!
27 years? That’s pitiful! 
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My (working) Antex CS18 is just about to celebrate it’s 29th birthday.
Hmm. Antex beats Paul Weller by 2 years. Still pitiful reliability but I suppose it’ll have to do!
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