First of all, thankyou very much John for all the feedback and time taken to reply.
I had posted this topic on a number of forums, and the problems encountered by experienced and regular iron users are numerous and cover a pretty large area. What is pretty evident is that most of these problems could be rectified by tweaking in the design.
From all the input, I have decided that simple tweaking of my original idea for re-design won't cover all bases as it were, and have decided to build a design from scratch, implementing design features that should hopefully include
1.The tool needing to be based on a pen shape design, easy and accurate (nimble) to operate with just your fingers. Also for the heated tip to have some form of gaurd to prevent you from burning yourself while in operation.
2. To have alternating temperature settings for working with differing material surfaces that need solder applied too.
3. Interchangable tips, and the smaller, the better.
4. A way to cover the heated tip once soldering has been completed so you can pack your iron away safely.
5. Safe removal of fumes generated during the soldering process.
6. A way to desolder to rectify mistakes (probably the most difficult problem to resolve in an all-in-one design I believe .. but I'll give it a go)
Thanks for all the feedback, you've made the re-design process that much more difficult .. he he .. only joking, much more easy now I have a clear indicator as to what problems need addressing.
Once again, thanks for your time John.