If you’re curious about SMT resistors, then do a little search for “Resistor Sample Book 0805” You will find neat little books that have resistors in E24 range, all values ( 1Ohm to 10Meg Ohm or thereabouts) and 25 or 50 resistors for each value. 4250 resistors for around EUR20, and that is about 0.5ct per resistor. “0805” is the size, and it’s a relatively big size and quite easy to handle with tweezers.
And there are similar sample books for other parts such as:
- Ceramic capacitors
- Inductors
- chokes.
- LED’s
- Transistors / diode assortments (mostly SOT-23)
Good quality tweezers is a must, and a stereo microscope is also very handy, although young people with good eyesight can do without. Having a lot of light on your desk (And I really mean a lot) also helps. With an “excessive” amount of light, your pupils retract, and as a result, you use less area of the lenses in your eyes, and as a result you see sharper. It’s similar to changing the aperture in a photo camera.