I understand that John Gammel uses expensive tools, however, it's the technique that matters. In the video he showed some good ways of soldeing TQFP and SOIC. I am sure this can be done without that expensive soldering station. What I like the most in the video is the bevel tip he used. A flat contact surface means more heat transfered to the part being soldered, and if more heat is transfered, the lower is the soldering time.In my opinion, this makes a tip so eficient. While experimenting, I have seen that the best joints are created by using very fine solder, because you can control precisely the amount of solder for that joint. Too much is not good. Too little, you know... But a moderate amount is the best. Also fine solder melts faster than the thick solder. Ok, I don't mean I am a Jedi at soldering, but I tried these tricks and my joints were pretty nice on matrix board (one of the best ways of prototyping).