Printed circuit board vice

[neutron spin]

Lady Ada or anyone else,

What is a good bench top PCB vise? Any info (make and model) appreciated. Thanks....

[adafruit]

Lady Ada or anyone else, What is a good bench top PCB vise? Any info (make and model) appreciated. Thanks....

we like the panavise that we carry...
http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_ ... cts_id=151

[rct]

Lady Ada's has a tool list here [url]http://www.ladyada.net/library/equipt/kits.html{/url] that includes vices.

Recently I purchased both a Panavise 201 Jr. (< $20) and the Panavise 324 Electronics work center. For under $80 total, I'm very happy I went with both. The Jr. handles small boards very well. You can see it in the pictures in a number of ladyada's make tutorials http://www.ladyada.net/make/boarduino/solder.html.

The 324 work center is pretty large. If you are only doing small boards you might get by with just the panavise jr. Since the 324 includes a soldering iron holder, solder roll holder, and trays for parts around the base, I use it even when the board I'm working on is in the Jr. The jr. is good for connector soldering too, much better than a helping hand. http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/starterpack.html#battpack

Hope This Helps,
--Rob

[sirket]

Panavise- hands down. I also have both the full size and junior versions- love them both.

[charliex]

panavise!

[adafruit_support_bill]

Another vote for Panavise here. The Panavise system is modular, so you can expand it if needed. I've had my suction-base for many years and have several jaws for it depending on what I am working on. The Jr. size PC board jaws are ideal for all the Adafruit projects.

[mojo]

I wish you could get Panavise products for a reasonable price in the UK

[slanderer]

In a dissenting opinion, I found this vice last time I was at Lowes
http://www.lowes.com/pd_313561-52800-BV-VB_4294857647+4294837093_4294937087?productId=3056911

For $20, it has been rather useful, and the vacuum base is remarkably strong. It can hold boards a bit larger than advertised, especially if you take off the removable rubber grippers (which then gives you a flat shelf that a board can rest on even better). Finally, its great for an all-around mini vise, especially if you are using it in a lab or other place where you can't mount a vice to a table.

[mojo]

I have one similar to that from Aldi that has a larger base. It is pretty good. The vacuum base does not work that well on my somewhat less than perfectly flat bench top but it is heavy enough to stay in place while soldering. The jaws have rubber protectors on them which are fine for PCBs or you can remove them and underneath there are plastic brackets with bevels down the middle which suit PCBs too.

The only thing I'm not sure about is how heat resistant the pads are. I have not had to find out so far

[charliex]

I wish you could get Panavise products for a reasonable price in the UK

I wish you could get them reasonably priced

[tronixstuff]

I wish you could get Panavise products for a reasonable price in the UK

Ditto Australia

[mojo]

I'm surprised Aoyue or another "clone" manufacturer does not make anything similar.

[Agent24]

I've got one of these style: http://jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=TH1983

I hardly ever use it though, most of the time I just turn the board upside down and put it on the table.

[mojo]

I made something like that out of a normal helping-hands thing by putting heat-shrink over the ends of the crocodile clips. It's okay-ish.

Like you I often just use the table top but it becomes difficult when you are trying to add components that are shorter than the tallest installed one. As a solution I clip the board with the helping hands and just hold the component in place with a gloved finger. The gloves are specially for soldering, made out of some kind of silk which is fairly heat resistant.

It would be nice if they could flip the board over without releasing it. That would cut assembly times down.

[Agent24]

I either:
1) Work from smallest to biggest components
or
2) Bend the leads slightly so they don't fall out