VFE Builds - PCB Eyelet size

[pedalbob]

Hi All-

Just looking for some friendly (or unfriendly  ) advice.  Building my first VFE pedal ... I bought a few circuit boards months ago and finally getting around to it .
Is it me or are the soldering eyelets on these boards extremely small relative to others (I have built pedals and amps from all the usual suspects and consider myself a pretty decent solderer) ??
I have the finest solder tip I can find and the smallest diameter Kester solder and still having trouble getting the solder to make the initial adherence to the eyelet without ending up with a big blob running up the lead.
Getting the knack on all of the resistors but I'm worried I'm heating the leads too long when I get to the other more sensitive components.  I always socket the IC's so not worried about those.
Wondering if anyone has some advice on some other technique.

I also realized I didn't clean the board before I started ... most times I gently wipe down the solder side with some acetone to clean off any contaminants.

Thanks in advance !

[madbean]

They definitely are small and it is easy to blob them up. But, I use my regular tip and solder for it and get good results. The way I do it is:

Heat the pad and lead together for about 2 sec
VERY quickly dab the solder to the iron. Get just a tiny fill to start. Repeat one more time.
Perfect joint! Well, most of the time, lol.

Also - don't use Acetone. Use Isopropyl 99% solution if you are doing pre or post cleaning of the PCB.

[pedalbob]

Thanks for the tips .... I'll give my other solder tip a try which is slightly larger. My fine one (Weller I think it is 0.4mm) works great for most small stuff but it seems hit or miss on these little eyelets. I think because they are so small it id not transfering enough heat to them quickly. The slightly larger tip should do better if I can keep it away from the adjacent pads.