Reverse Engineering ME2's USB with a Heat Gun and a Knife

To remove SMD ICs more easily with a soldering iron, you can create a tool to help with it. Cut a lengthy piece with a curved end at the front (looks a bit like a finger) from an aluminum can and sand away the inner coating and print on the outside.

Then work the curved end between IC and PCB and start heating the contacts left and right while continuing to move the tool further in once the solder at a leg melts. The legs with solder on them will not attach to the aluminum and you have the IC off the board in no time.

For soldering the author might consider “drag soldering”, i.e. put a small blob of molten solder on the legs and keep moving the tip of the iron over the legs on one side. Keep doing that until there are no bridges left.