Electronic – Using solder paste instead of soldering wire for through-hole parts

Wire to SIL socket:

• Put the socket on a bench vice to hold it still.
• Heat up the pin with your soldering iron, then apply a bit of solder. Don't heat too much or you'll melt the plastic spacer between the sockets. Repeat for all pins.
• Strip wire ends. If using multithreaded wire, it might be a good idea to pre-solder the wire ends too.
• Now, holding the iron in one hand and the wire in the other, heat up the pin and touch the wire end on the iron. Once the solder melts, move the wire end into the molten solder, then move the soldering iron away. Hold the wire still until the solder solidifies. A stable posture will help.
• Inspect. If it looks like a cold joint (matte grey, brittle), add a bit of fresh solder and redo the joint applying afterheat a bit longer.
• Put a 2-3 cm. piece of <3mm heat shrink tube over the joint, pin and wire. Shrink it tight to make it more durable.

Wire to pad:

• Basically the same thing - apply enough pre-solder on the pad to immerse the wire end.

General advice:

• The thicker the wire / the larger the foil you're soldering, the longer pre-heating is required on that surface.
• If the metal you're trying to solder is in contact with eg. metal pliers or bench vice, the tool will conduct lots of heat away making your work difficult.

Lead-free solder requires higher heat. Lead has a lower melting point which one of the reason it was used in the first place.

You can find more information here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder

which discusses both lead and lead-free solder.

I hate lead-free solder and do not use it when I am not forced.

Edit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering_iron#Tips