PCB Holder

[mdc]

For myself, wish I'd gotten one earlier.
Everybody has a different build regimen, but not having a bench (nor the space for one), it helps me to raise my "working area", and as fig said, it clears all the clutter of whatever surface I'm using (top of the dryer presently...).
I pair it with blue tack or masking tape to secure looser stuff, and I find it secure enough.

That's a good point - I set stuff up 'wherever' whenever i'm working - most often I'm sitting on the floor and working on a coffee table or something like that, so it may be more useful for me than someone with dedicated hobby space.

 

[andare]

I started with one of the holders like the one you linked but found myself fighting with it more than not. Maybe because I got a cheap one. It kept spinning on me and the jaws always got in the way of the components on most PCB's. I broke down and got one of the larger "Helping Hands" type and love it. Much more versatile.

View attachment 31146

I have one of these but it's rectangular. It's a knockoff of the Quad Hands. I wish the arms were shorter though.

 

[szukalski]

I use one of the holders, it works well with my workflow.

It also helps to get the PCB a bit closer to me, I am a taller guy and my desks are normal height. Bending over a PCB is not comfy.

 

[joelorigo]

Thanks for all of the replies. The times I really need something is in the occasion that I need to remove an item from a PCB and for some wire attaching. Particularly attaching a breakout board to a footswitch, or wires to the said breakout board. I'm looking at the helping hand now instead of the vice one. I wonder if the clips on that one can hold a footswitch easily. The smaller one I have now, the switch can pop out of the clip.

 

[MichaelW]

Thanks for all of the replies. The times I really need something is in the occasion that I need to remove an item from a PCB and for some wire attaching. Particularly attaching a breakout board to a footswitch, or wires to the said breakout board. I'm looking at the helping hand now instead of the vice one. I wonder if the clips on that one can hold a footswitch easily. The smaller one I have now, the switch can pop out of the clip.

Not really, the clips won't hold a footswitch securely. I use my vice for that if I need it.

 

[fig]

I started with one of the holders like the one you linked but found myself fighting with it more than not. Maybe because I got a cheap one. It kept spinning on me and the jaws always got in the way of the components on most PCB's. I broke down and got one of the larger "Helping Hands" type and love it. Much more versatile.

View attachment 31146

Got that too.

 

[PapaBear]

I just use a big blob of blu tack

Ditto

 

[Alan W]

For pedal sized boards I rarely hold them, generally just placing them on a flat surface (lately a silicon pad, used to be a scrap of tag board). I do have an old Panavise circuit board holder that comes in very handy for larger boards; being able to flip them over and hold them at set angles really makes working easier. A few years ago I got the yellow base and flex arms for it, and I find these very handy, more often holding parts or wires in place, but they work great on these small boards too.

 

[Robert]

I do have an old Panavise circuit board holder that comes in very handy for larger boards

That's the one to have right there.

 

[Alan W]

That's the one to have right there.

I almost always find it too big for typical pedal circuit boards, especially with the small components that go on them. But with larger boards, it’s a pleasure to use. Having the yellow base and magnetic arms with it has made it that much more useful.

 

[Deperduci]

give it 2 more arms it be the most versatile