My first thought is, perhaps it's corrosion, from high or excess heat, these are disposable parts after all, but what really contributes to this kind of wear, and is there anything that can be done to prevent it being so sudden or so soon?
Often I find the soldering tips in the workstation to be bent, or the end of the tip looking like it's snapped off.
What're your thoughts?
How long do tips last for you or how often do you replace them?
What do you use to take care of your soldering iron?
Pictures really tell a lot in a thread like this so here are my irons and a collection of old tips:
The Aoyue is the iron part of my hot air rework station - I don't use the iron part much, because it isn't as good as the Hakko I use most of the time (I didn't bring the whole Hakko over for the picture).
The blue tip in the middle is the one I am currently using in the Hakko.
The Tenma is new, courtesy of element14 - only used in my camera area so far.
The Yong Feng looks unused because it is - I bought it for $12 - it might see some use for mobile work since the temperature control is in the handle, eliminating the big controller block.
Some of the tips have a worn spot that doesn't "wet" with solder well but I don't throw them out in case I want to use them for melting PLA or hot glue or some other application that would mess up a nice tip.
For fixings like this when you can't find the proper driver?
PS: I do know the real answer but will leave it to dougw as it is his soldering iron selection 
Looks like it would fit in the chuck of my electric drill OK which would reduce the stress of using it with the soldering iron for a handle 
You might as well spill the beans - I don't know what that tip was designed for...
You might as well spill the beans - I don't know what that tip was designed for...
