Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Got this in the mail today. I've already used it several times. It's simply amazing.

It's specifically designed to hold PCBs. And it's heavy enough that you really don't need to bolt it down.

Buy one now! (got mine on Amazon for $25)

How could i live that long without that!!!

LOVE. THIS. THING. Seriously.

I've been thinking the same thing since I got mine. They're wonderful.

a little vise is my #1 "tool they don't tell you about". so damned handy. seriously, how HAVE you made it this long without one??

Yep, I love the Panavise products. Very useful.

If you really wanna fall in love, get a stereo zoom microscope. Now that is another cool tool.

I have a very SHITTY set of helping hands that can sort of stand in for a vice. Imma toss that piece of crap in the recycling bin shortly.

you should mount a cheap webcam to it and make a ghetto ass usb magnifier
it make spilled diodes/transister's a breeze to sort .
/edit
might be a dumb questiion but how do you keep the componants from falling out when you are soldering them ?
some sort of bending goin on there?

I just bought one!

Dude.........that is going to be so much better, that my crappy 2 clip thingy.....

I will probably do most of my soldering of components NOT in the vise. I just find it very useful for desoldering. Totally cuts the time for removing components. I do a lot of that these days with all the testing of boards and such.

But even my "normal" method involves lead bending.

Like so:

I've had mine for a couple years & it is great. My helping hands don't see much use these days.

+1 for the panavise jr. I ended up mounting mine to a scrap piece of wood for more stability. I always thought the "full sized" panavise was too expensive for my hobby purposes, but then I found out about the junior.

Ordered one. That freaking worthless POS "Helping Hands" I have can go right in the dumper now.

I'm with CJ--it's desoldering operations that will make this thing worth it's weight in...solder?

I slipped some heatshrink over the claws of my Helping Hands, and I've never had a problem with it. What problem are you guys experiencing with your HH's? (Neat little vise, BTW)...

Well, my helping hands are going on 30 years old, and they're falling appart. I actually snapped one of the thumbscrews while trying to tighten it..

One thing the panavise jr. can do, that I was never able to do very well with the helping hands, is flip the board over, back and forth, back and forth without having to lossen and re-tighten any screws or anything. Insert a component or two & bend the leads a little to hold them in place, then flip the vise jaws over to expose the solder side of the board, solder, clip the leads, flip the board back over, repeat. I was able to do something like this with my helping hands, but not nearly as smoothly & securely as with the panavise jr.

The helping hands still come in very handy for other things, though.. like holding wires in place while you solder them, for example.

Bought one of those last year at Hobby Lobby for $25. My helping hands is actually in a box of other junk I don't use.

I don't use it for soldering to the PCB, but I do put the 3PDT, pots and other things in there if I decided to solder those first and not in the enclosure. Works great. Also as you know for desoldering too.

CT, for me the damn thing falls forward all the time. If I breath on it too hard it wants to tip. I then angle the mag glass backwards to put more weight on the back side but frankly I just got tired of fighting it. So, I would tape it down each time which I think is ridiculous that I need to do this. I have the option of bolting down the panavise jr too, although I have yet to do that. For me it is just more user friendly.

For $25 it was completely worth it to me for my hands and mind. I picked it up on a whim while looking for some other junk one day at Hobby Lobby.

'Xactly! I end up fighting with it every time I try to use it.

Me too. I'm sure it's because it's a cheap set. But for the same cash, I got the PanaVise, and it's way better. Winning! /sheen

I do all of the component soldering with the board laying on the table. I generally only use something to hold the board if I'm desoldering.

+1

I now use this vise for just about everything. It's excellent for desoldering and wiring the PCB to pots, switches, whatever. Table-top soldering stressed me out, what with the wobbling and skittering around (blame me, not the table ). Having the board locked down solves that problem.

Yeah, I sometimes try the old hold the solder in the left hand, use the left pinky to hold the board etc....until I burned my pinky One think I like for me is I bought a cheap car floor mat and that is my soldering base if you will. With the grooves in the mat all the clippings go in there and the rubber holds the board a little better than the wood bench. Then when done I just pick up the mat and toss the wire and clipping into the trash. This makes my wife much happier as we don't track around all this stuff into the house. It's also good for flinging that extra solder off the iron. Anyway, that is my deal and I"m happy with it.