Most soldering stations come with a sponge ... These flat cutters are my favorite: the metal wire stays still and the resulting edge isn’t nearly as sharp. Nobody’s perfect.

Solder comes in many sizes and compositions depending on the application. For electrical purposes, electrical lead free ...

which depends on a little prep work to end up only slightly more complex than soldering to copper. A typical way to make a reliable electrical connection to aluminum is to use a screw and a wire ...